Ovum

Ovum is a unique ceramic sculpture by the Barcelona artist Cesc Abad (b. 1973), made in 2022. Rising to 80 cm, the piece is built as a stacked tower: a speckled vase-like body at the base, a dark band crowded with small figures, and at the top a large white egg bearing the word OVUM in raised red letters, held aloft by pink figures and crowned by a winged nude. The surface is splashed with drips of red, yellow, blue and black glaze, and small birds perch on yellow eggs on either side. The egg, symbol of origin and fertility, turns the sculpture into an exuberant allegory of birth and creation, told with the humour and irreverence that run through Abad’s work. Abad is best known for his large paintings, where a post-impressionist brushstroke serves a symbolic, often satirical vision of man’s relationship with nature. Ceramics are the counterpoint to his painting: a freer, more tactile space where his characters take on volume. Ovum is a unique piece.