Again and again, a loud splat was followed by a chorus of encouraging whoops and cheers as a long line of mostly women each took their turn to hurl two eggs at the wall of T.J. Boulting gallery in London’s Fitzrovia. One by one, they emerged visibly energized and excited, sharing with each other how the experience had felt freeing or cathartic.
The participatory spectacle was the latest edition of Sarah Lucas’s performance 1000 Eggs: For Women, which invites anyone who identifies as a woman, or men dressed as women, to throw 1,000 eggs at a white wall. The atmosphere was a charged one of female solidarity, with a few well-dressed men sporting jewelry or a wig also joining in on the fun.
“It’s an exercise in futility in some way,” said Lucas, of these egg-throwing escapades. “Objectors find the waste immoral, for instance. And yet strangely it does feel liberating and like letting off steam for a lot of women. Perhaps that’s because we’re so accustomed and expected to be caring.”
Sarah Lucas welcomes participants of her performance 1000 Eggs: For Women at T.J. Boulting gallery in London. Photo: Jo Lawson-Tancred.
The end result was a vast abstract painting, one of multiple egg-themed works in the new group show “Un Oeuf Is an Oeuf” at T.J. Boulting, on view from October 11 until November 16.
“I really enjoyed going down the stairs and seeing lots of different women waiting to smash up and destroy these eggs, which are symbolic of our womanhood, I suppose,” said artist Libby Heaney, one of the participants. “Different people were throwing them in different ways. Some were really letting it rip and others were more gentle. It felt like a really nice feminine space but with some rage and fury. It felt cathartic and fun!”
Another participant who preferred to stay anonymous agreed. “Eggs are so political, so stressful in terms of fertility,” she said. “To actually release yourself and throw and smash eggs is quite a wonderful thing.”
The writer takes her turn to hurl an egg for Sarah Lucas 1000 Eggs: For Women at T.J. Boulting gallery in London. Photos: Eddy Bellew.
This is the first time the performance has happened in London, having previously been staged at the New Museum in New York, the Hammer Museum in L.A., the Red Brick Art Museum in Beijing, and Kurimanzutto in Mexico City. At T.J. Boulting, the eggs used were free range “pullet” eggs, which are from young chickens and are normally rejected by supermarkets and used for egg powder because they are considered too small.
The British artist has long been associated with eggs since she began using real fried eggs in her work as a playful stand-in for breasts. Two Fried Eggs and a Kebab (1992), for example, references the kind of crude analogies for women’s bodies that are usually made by men. For this more recent work, Sarah Lucas instead invokes the egg as a symbol for fertility and reproduction.
The group show “Un Oeuf Is an Oeuf” at T.J. Boulting, on view from October 11 until November 16 will feature works by a broad mix of contemporary and historical artists, including Coco Capitán, Maisie Cousins, Man Ray, and Francesca Woodman.