The Big Duck in Flanders is the star of a North Fork art exhibit and some visitors to the popular roadside atttraction spoke on Saturday, June 25 about what they love about it. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.

As a Long Islander, the Big Duck is either an iconic part of your East End memories, or it's a feathered symbol of your childhood you haven't visited in quite some time. At a new art exhibit nesting in the North Fork, the iconic roadside attraction has been reconfigured in imaginative ways. 

“Everybody knows about the Big Duck, but I don’t know anybody who’s done a show about it,” says painter and gallerist Glen Hansen, 60, whose studio in Southold is home to the exhibition through Aug. 28. “So I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Charlie Frey, wife Rachel and her mother Lily Abbandandolo have their...

Charlie Frey, wife Rachel and her mother Lily Abbandandolo have their picture taken while enjoying their visit to the Big Duck in Flanders. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.

A group of 20 artists flocked to the famous 91-year-old duck for creative juice. Homages include paintings, sculptures, video, photographs, written word pieces, plus works in other media. 

Southold resident Karla Saladino, who collects art and manages a New York City real estate firm, was hit by a wave of nostalgia during the show opening. “When I was growing up, my grandparents had a house in Aquebogue. We always passed the Big Duck on the way there as kids and really loved it.” 

WHAT TO EGG-SPECT 

Marta Baumiller’s prints paper the walls of the studio entrance, Kim Schmitt Thomas goes cubist in her painting, and Allan Wexler’s plaster sculptures take on abstract dimensions. Adam Straus, who helped organize the show, hatched a huge oil stick drawing of an egg.

Hansen describes the collection in which prices run from $20 to $3,600 as “irreverent and quirky.” Works also speak to serious themes of community, history, industry, and nature.

Frankie Neptune, also known as Stephen Capozzoli, of Southold, at...

Frankie Neptune, also known as Stephen Capozzoli, of Southold, at the Glen Hansen Studio in Southold during a show inspired by the Flanders' Big Duck. Credit: Randee Daddona

A painting by Cliff Baldwin, 61, an Aquebogue artist whose work is typically language-based, reads, in all caps, OOOO THAT SMELL. “I’ve lived here for 30 years and I’ve experienced some smelly nights,” he says. “I’m also a duck farmer supporter.”

Southold residents David Rohde, 57, Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs and Managing Attorney at New York City Housing Authority, and his husband Anthony Crowell, 51, Dean of New York Law School, were among an estimated 100 art lovers at the exhibit launch. They both made a purchase.

“The show was so fun, and in part that’s because I have a little connection to the duck,” says Rohde, who explained that his 92-year-old father worked for a company that engineered delicate Big Duck relocations. 

Quick recap: The concrete waterfowl-shaped building first roosted in Riverhead in 1931 as a place to sell ducks and eggs. It later moved to Flanders, then to Hampton Bays, and back to Flanders in 2007. Since 1993, it has housed a small museum. 

Crowell says for years he has “marveled at the Duck’s uniqueness and environmental symbolism.” 

Stephen Pizzitola, 70, a retired property manager who lives in Westhampton Beach, attended the premiere after golfing. He found a photo print by Rainer Gross particularly engaging. “It suggested to me there was one Pekin duck that achieved flight,” he says. “It’s a wonderful show.” 

THE BIG DUCK EXHIBIT

The Big Duck is on view Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., or by appointment through Aug. 28, Glen Hansen Studio, 1560 Youngs Ave., Southold, 347-675-2793.

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