At Patricia Low Venezia’s gallery on Canal Grande, until 26 August 2023, in conjunction with the 18th. Architecture Biennale, Philip Colbert’s solo exhibition “House of the Lobster – from Pompeii to Venice” will be staged. The British artist presents a new series entitled “Pompeii” in the recently opened Swiss gallery venue, in Venice, focusing on the eternal conflict between the lobster and the octopus. The protagonists are scenes of an epic underwater battle, initially inspired by a mosaic from the Casa dei Mosaici Geometrici (house of geometric mosaics) in Pompeii. Taking inspiration from the rich mythology of ancient Greece and Rome, the paintings also refer to marine deities such as Pontus, often depicted with horns in the shape of a crab’s claw, or Proteus, a shape-shifter depicted with tentacles. The artist borrows from art history to shape these battle scenes in which pop surrealism and classical antiquity merge. Colbert also explores the symbolic power of the lobster in amphorae, but interprets them in a neo-pop aesthetic.
Philip Colbert on show in Venice with “House of the Lobster”
The British artist presents a series of paintings merging pop surrealism and classical antiquity in the spaces of Patricia Low Venezia until 26 August.
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- Francesca Grillo
- 28 May 2023
- “House of the Lobster – from Pompeii to Venice”
- Philip Colbert
- Patricia Low Venezia, Palazzo Contarini, Michiel Dorsoduro 2793, Venezia (vaporetto Ca’ Rezzonico)
- from 20th May to 26th August 2023
Lobster Octopus I (Pompeii Scene), 2023.
Lobster Octopus II (Pompeii Scene), 2023.
Lobster Octopus III (Pompeii Scene), 2023.
Lobster Octopus IV (Pompeii Scene), 2023.
Lobster Octopus V (Pompeii Scene), 2023.
Venice Scene IV (From the Lobstar Planet), 2023.
Venice Scene V (From the Lobstar Planet), 2023.
Venice Scene VI (From the Lobstar Planet), 2023.
Venice Scene VII (From the Lobstar Planet), 2023.
Lobstar Octopus, 2022.
Lobster Sculptor (Centaur), 2022.
Claw Amphora, 2023.
Lobster Amphora with Battle Scene (Pixel), 2022.
Lobster Amphora with Battle Scene (Blue), 2022.