PHILIP COLBERT
Philip Colbert is a Scottish-born artist living and working in London. He obtained a master’s degree in philosophy from St. Andrews University. His energetic work has received international acclaim in galleries and museums worldwide for his new approach to pop art and art history.
The cartoon lobster seen in Colbert’s works is like his alter ego. Colbert is inspired by Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone, and the basic concept is to sublimate the surrealist conception into the realm of pop art by becoming the alter ego of the lobster himself. Colbert has said, “I became an artist when I became a Lobster.”
His works are filled with symbols from mass culture, which are depicted in a pop style, but the subjects themselves are rooted in history painting, placing his work in the context of art history. Colbert’s aim is to connect contemporary themes such as digital culture and mass culture with history painting and contemporary art theory, exploring these relationships within his works.
Because of these characteristics, he is often referred to as the ” godson of Andy Warhol” and has been praised as a contemporary pop master by art world figures such as Charles Saatchi and Simon De Pury.
Colbert began his career as a painter in earnest in 2017 with his first solo show at Saatchi Gallery in London. In just a few years, he held large-scale exhibitions at a high pace in Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Since then, he has continued to present exhibitions in European countries and North America on an even larger scale.
In 2021, he created an imaginary city named Lobsteropolis in the virtual space of the Internet in conjunction with an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London. He made the following remarks about the series of activities.
“With the rise of NFT, the digital art movement is now a tidal wave, and so many new ideas are possible. Never before has a generation been able to so radically shift artistic possibilities.”
Colbert has continued to energetically present his work both in physical exhibitions and through virtual platforms and video games. His activities in the virtual space have become an important element in the development of his art-making.
WORKS
BIOGRAPHY
1979 Born in Scotland
2004 Founded a fashion label “Rodnik Band” in London
PAST EXHIBITIONS
2017 Solo Exhibition, “New Paintings” at Saatchi Gallery in London, UK
2018 Group Show, “Wavelength” at Power Long Museum in Shanghai, China
2018 First Solo Exhibition”New Paintings" in Japan at Galerie Nichido in Tokyo, Japan
2018 Solo Exhibition, “Hunt Paintings” at Saatchi Gallery in London, UK
2019 Solo Exhibition, “Hunt Paintings” at Saatchi Gallery in Los Angeles, USA
2019 Group Show at Art Fair Tokyo 2019 at Sho + 1 booth in Tokyo, Japan
2019 Solo Exhibition, “Lobster Land” at Whitestone Gallery in Hong Kong
2019 Solo Exhibition, “Lobster Land” at Gallery Simon in Seoul, Korea
2019 Solo Exhibition, “Lobster Land” at Multimedia Fine Art Museum in Moscow, Russia
2020 Solo Exhibition,"Lobster Land" at Gallery Structura in Sofia, Bulgaria
2020 Solo Exhibition,"Lobster Land" at Patricia Low Contemporary in GSTAAD, Switzerland
2020 Solo Exhibition,"Lobster Land" at Whitestone Gallery in Taipei
2020 Solo Exhibition, “Lobsterpolis” at Saatchi Gallery in London, UK
2020 Group Show at Art TNZ, at Sho+1 booth in Tokyo, Japan
2021 Solo Exhibition "Lobster Land" at Sejong Museum in Seoul, Korea
2021 Group Show at Art Fair Tokyo 2021 at Sho+1 booth in Tokyo, Japan
2021 Solo Exhibition "Collaboration Paintings +" at Sho+1 in Tokyo, Japan
2022 Group Show at Art Fair Tokyo 2022 at Sho+1 booth in Tokyo, Japan
2022 Group Show at art stage OSAKA 2022 at Sho+1 booth in Osaka, Japan
2022 Lobstars in Venice, Venice Venice Hotel, Venice, Italy
2022 Lobster Wonderland, IFS, Changsha, China
2022 Lobstars in Saint Paul de Vence, De Buck Gallery, Saint Paul de Vence, Italy
2022 The Lobster Empire in Rome, Via Veneto, Rome, Italy
2022 The Lobster Empire in Rome, Museo di San Salvatore in Lauro, Rome, Italy
2022 Dreams of Lobsteropolis, Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China
2022 Journey to the Lobster Planet, Karuizawa New Art Museum, Karuizawa, Japan
2023 Philip Colbert Singapore Art Week, Saatchi Gallery, Singapore
2023 Lobsteropolis, Pearl Lam Galleries at M5 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2023 The Lobster Empire in Treviso, 21 Gallery, Treviso, Italy
2023 House of the Lobster - from Pompeii to Venice, Patricia Low Venezia, Venice, Italy
2023 Solo Exhibition., “Journey to the Lobster Planet Taipei”White Stone Gallery, Taipei
2024 Solo Exhibition, “House of the Lobster”museo archeologico nazionale di napoli, Napoli, Italy
2024 Solo Exhibition, “Journey to the Lobster Planet”White Stone Gallery, Singapore
2024 Solo Exhibition, “The Myth of the Lobster Planet”K11 Art Mall, Shenyang, China
