Following his dynamite exhibition and takeover at the Archaeological Museum of Naples, Philip Colbert now announces a book to accompany House of the Lobster, a museum takeover show that attracted crowds of visitors in the thousands.
Those who have been unable to make it to the Archaeological Museum of Naples, to see the lobster in action, will now be able to access the works, via this thrilling compendium, with accompanying texts by Maria Isabella Barone, Catherine Loewe and Eric Sejor.
For the last two years, Colbert has been rolling back the frontiers of his hyper-pop universe in Italy, the birthplace of art history, whose Renaissance pioneers include Botticelli, Giotto, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Titian. As his practice is described as a conversation with his idols and art history itself, in 2022, Colbert’s invasion of the city of Rome included 12 public sculptures and a museum takeover at the Musei di San Salvatore in Lauro. Meanwhile, this February, his sculptures and paintings at the Archaeological Museum of Naples, which ends on April 1st, were inspired by one of the museum’s ancient mosaics.
‘The appearance of the lobster in ancient Greek and Roman art, and as a symbol of life and death in classical art and still lives, as well as in Salvador Dalí’s surrealist works, were a great inspiration,’
Philip Colbert
Colbert’s work and his world, from furniture to paintings have seen him referred to as the Godson of Andy Warhol (by the late and legendary Andre Leon Talley) and won him the endorsement of art-world heavyweights, Charles Saatchi and David Hockney. As to what marks him out from so many of the other contemporary artists, Colbert is ever on the front foot, always with a quicksilver response to the geopolitical climate up his colourful sleeve.
As Catherine Loewe mentions in House of the Lobster, the artists’ latest tome: “Colbert’s fascination with antiquity seems to be right on the zeitgeist, as in 2023 the meme “How often do you think about the Roman Empire” went viral on TikTok with the hashtag #romanempire receiving 1.3 billion views. Women who asked this question to the men in their lives were surprised to discover some think about it all the time.
Philip Colbert ‘House of the Lobster’ BUY NOW
About the artist
I became an artist when I became a Lobster
Philip Colbert
Born in Scotland and living and working in London, Colbert is often referred to as the “godson of Andy Warhol”. He 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. After 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.
As the men who have responded in the TikTok videos attest, it’s not just Colbert whose lens rests on the significance of the Roman Empire. Given the seriousness of their answers, attempting to defend their responses, we learn what a huge part of their interior lives this historical period plays. During the launch, Colbert will be signing copies of House of the Lobster, which will later be available from the museum shop.
