Pop artist opens first UK exhibition in Woking
PA MediaA giant artwork featuring hundreds of lobsters in a fantastical landscape has gone on display at a museum in Surrey.
Pop artist Philip Colbert, often described as the 'godson of Andy Warhol', opens his first UK museum exhibition at Woking's Lightbox Gallery & Museum on July 25.
Known for his cartoon lobster artworks, Colbert has installed 26 sculptures and paintings at the gallery.
His largest painting to date – The Lost Gardens Of Lobsteropolis – is on display, measuring five metres (16.4ft) tall.
It features hundreds of red lobsters, including one in a striped top in homage to Where's Wally, set among the ruins of antiquity.
Colbert, who was born in Scotland and now lives in London, said: "I've always been interested in creating entire worlds through art.
"The Lost Gardens of Lobsteropolis imagines a place where ancient mythology, art history and contemporary culture all collide.
"Bringing this exhibition to Woking, with its connection to H.G. Wells and world-building on such an epic scale, feels particularly fitting."
Colbert initially worked from sketches before modelling his ideas on a computer, then used a projector to paint the giant piece in his studio alongside a team of assistants.
It took six months to paint the work, which is Colbert's biggest painting to date.
"When you set your sights on big ideas, they can feel overwhelming but if you break it down little by little, big things are possible," he said.
His giant piece is joined by new floral paintings, shaped canvases and large-scale sculptures.
PA MediaColbert had frequently used lobsters in his artwork but fully identified his artistic persona as a red lobster in 2017, becoming known as Lobster Man to art fans across the world.
He is the first contemporary artist to exhibit in Pompeii, with 36 of his sculptures on display in houses at the Unesco world heritage site.
Sarah Brown, director of Lightbox Gallery & Museum, said: "Philip's hyper-pop, surrealist history paintings and larger-than-life lobster alter-ego make complex ideas accessible, playful and importantly fun as he invites us on a journey through history and art.
"It is wonderful to show his work at Lightbox and to invite audiences into his surreal world."
The exhibition will run at the gallery from 25 July until 1 November.