Philip Colbert: House of the Lobster. From Pompeii to Venice

After the success of Colbert’s 12-metre inflatable – a surprise installation for the opening of the 2022 Venice Biennale – it returns to the city.

In this new inflatable work, the lobster octopus is transported through the city along the Giudecca Canal. Like a surreal fantasy, the work bursts through the deck of the boat, coming to life. Inspired by Canaletto’s renowned paintings, synonymous with Venice, Colbert uses the city itself as a context to present the work.

In the exhibition titled, ‘HOUSE OF THE LOBSTER’, Colbert presents a new Pompeii series that celebrates the origins of lobster mythology reviving the lobster of Herculaneum and Pompeian mosaics and frescos. Central to the exhibition is the eternal conflict between the lobster, as a symbol
of mortality, and octopus, a sacred symbol. In these underwater battle scenes, they are caught in the midst of a struggle, initially inspired by a mosaic From the House of the Geometric Mosaics in Pompeii (eruption in 79AD), where a moray eel has joined in the aquatic fight.

Drawing on the rich mythology of ancient Greece and Rome, this new body of paintings also references many sea-gods such as Pontus, often depicted with crab-claw horns growing out of his head or Proteus, a shapeshifter commonly portrayed with tentacles. These mythic figures inform each epic battle, where the yin and yang of the lobster-octopus-duo dramatically plays out throughout the exhibition.

The Venice series taps into the artistic rite of passage the city has become for contemporary artists while simultaneously speaking to the major force Venetian painting was in Italian Renaissance painting and beyond. Along with the symbol of the lobster in Dutch still-life painting, the artist draws on its rich legacy in art history to create these battle scenes, where pop surrealism and classical antiquity collide. Colbert also retraces the symbolic power of the lobster to ancient amphorae, most notably, The Class of the Seven Lobster-Claws. On display is a classical lobster amphora in a neo-pop aesthetic. With reference to the ancient vase makers, it suggests lobster-worship and its potential connection to a higher power, merging this art historical context with the surreal apocalyptic vision of his retro-future lobster world.