On Wednesday, June 30th British contemporary artist Philip Colbert will reveal LOBSTEROPOLIS CITY, his first fully digital exhibition, opening within the ‘metaverse’ of Decentraland – seeing the artist’s lobster universe evolve into its latest iteration. This marks the most ambitious and largest-scale single artist venture to be seen in Decentraland to date.
An open-source Virtual Reality world built on the Ethereum Blockchain, Decentraland is a place to explore and experience through a unique avatar, or even create your own piece of the universe. Set across 57 Land Parcels in the district of Lobster Land, Lobsteropolis City is partnered with Vegas City, one of the largest districts within the Decentraland metaverse.
“Forget Cubism, this is artistic expression and experience on another level. With the rise of the 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, it’s the perfect storm. For me, Decentraland was the best second life platform to house Lobsteropolis.”
Philip Colbert
Curated by globally renowned art auctioneer and dealer Simon de Pury at the Lobster Land Museum, the exhibition includes a series of NFT works available exclusively with NFT platform SuperRare. These include Colbert’s iconic past works Cryptofixtion and Lobster Fountain, alongside new unseen NFT works.
To mark the opening of LOBSTEROPOLIS CITY there will be an event at the Lobster Land Museum, Simon de Pury will also be hosting his first Decentraland auction. Central to the auction is a new NFT artwork created in collaboration with legendary American New wave band DEVO – a hybrid artwork and musical performance titled LOB-STER DE-VO.
“We are right now living and working in an interesting time for the art world, which has finally fully embraced the digital world. It has been such fun to appear as an avatar in Philip Colbert’s exciting Lobster universe.”
Simon de Pury
In this work, Colbert further explores the role digital ideology is playing in the re-birth of a more digitally orientated era for humanity, and the defining role art plays in such times – at the same time paying reference to the use of 3 crucifixions in DEVO’s iconic music video ‘Through being cool’ in 1981.
DEVO will also perform a live DJ set at Lobster Land Records store next door to the Museum for the launch event on 30 June.
“‘LOB-STER-DE-VO’ Clawing our way into the future. Breaking free. Looking for new traditions. De- evolution is real!”
Gerald Casale, DEVO
Colbert has been building Lobsteropolis City over the last three years, with composite elements having appeared in international museum shows and through gaming, video and virtual reality platforms. These have included his 2020 Saatchi Gallery exhibition, which opened with a lobster robot-only launch in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Lobster Land at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai. This new project, therefore, marks a logical evolution in Colbert’s innovative, ongoing engagement with the digital possibilities of art.
“LOBSTEROPOLIS CITY” Philip Colbert launches Lobsteropolis City and the Lobster Land Museum in Decentraland, curated by Simon de Pury Museum Opening Wednesday 30th June, with live DJ set from Devo
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About Philip Colbert
Born in Scotland and living and working in London. Colbert is often referred to as the “godson of Andy Warhol”. Colbert has created a global following for his cartoon Lobster persona and his masterful hyper pop history paintings. His work powerfully explores the patterns of contemporary digital culture and its relationship to a deeper art historical dialogue. “I became an artist when I became a Lobster” says Colbert.
Graduating with an MA in Philosophy from St. Andrews University, Colbert’s work has received international acclaim in museums and galleries worldwide for his energetic new approach to painting and pop theory. Following on from early Pop painters such as Richard Hamilton, Roy Lichtenstein and James Rosenquist. Colbert’s paintings cross high art themes from old master paintings and contemporary art theory with everyday symbols of mass contemporary culture, all narrated through the eyes of Colbert’s cartoon Lobster alter ego. He has been championed as a contemporary Pop master by art world figures such as Charles Saatchi & Simon de Pury.
About Simon de Pury
Auctioneer, art dealer, curator, photographer and DJ, Simon de Pury is one of the leading figures in the art world. Renowned for his legendary performance on the auction podium, which have earned him the moniker “the Mick Jagger of auctions”, as well as his deep and longstanding knowledge of the global marketplace, de Pury is the preeminent international auctioneer and advisor.
Currently de Pury is the curatorial driving force and Artistic Director behind Newlands House in Petworth, West Sussex, a new gallery specialising in modern and contemporary art, photography and design. de Pury has also collaborated with British luxury brand Asprey to create de Pury @ Asprey, a new space for special exhibitions hosted at Asprey’s private rooms above their flagship Bond Street store in London.
As an active charity auctioneer, it is estimated that de Pury has raised several billion dollars for a number of charities and cultural institutions over the course of his career including amfAR, Elton John AIDS Foundation, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, MTV Staying Alive and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, among others. His book The Auctioneer: Adventures in the Art Trade was published in Spring 2016, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the multibillion-pound world of international art dealing.
About Devo
Devo is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. One of New Wave’s most innovative bands, formed in Akron, Ohio, in 1972 by Kent State art students Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh.
With their synergistic mix of electronic rock, unparalleled theatrical live shows and ground-breaking music videos directed by Devo co-founder, Gerald Casale, they created a multi-media art assault that resonates in 21st century, contemporary pop culture.
Devo took their name from their concept of “deevolution” — the idea that instead of evolving, mankind has actually regressed, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society. Their music echoed this view of society as rigid, repressive, and mechanical, with appropriate touches — jerky, robotic rhythms; an obsession with technology and electronics (the group was among the first non-Prog rock bands to make the synthesizer a core element); often atonal melodies and chord progressions – all of which were filtered through the perspectives of geeky misfits. Devo became a cult sensation, helped in part by their concurrent emphasis on highly stylized visuals, and briefly broke through to the mainstream with the smash single “Whip It,” whose accompanying video was made a staple by the fledgling MTV network.
About SuperRare
Founded in 2017 by John Crain, Charles Crain, and Jonathan Perkins, SuperRare is an online, peer- to-peer marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), most notably Cryptoart, built on the Ethereum blockchain. It was created as a social environment for buying and selling artwork with a goal of reinventing art collecting for the digital age.
