COLBERT'S METAPHYSICAL LOBSTERS IN VENICE
After Scots-born artist Philip Colbert's inflatable Lobsters made their rather startling appearance in Rome's Via Veneto (of “Dolce Vita” fame) last year, the Lobster theme has reappeared in Venice in the newly opened Patricia Low Contemporary art gallery in the historic Contarini Michiel Palace on the Grand Canal beside the 18th century Ca' Rezzonica museum.
The solo exhibition, entitled “House of the Lobster” is inspired by the mosaics featuring lobsters found at the archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum and the ancient myths in which the lobster, representing the figure of immortality, is in conflict with the sacred octopus.
The theme also took inspiration from the ancient Attic amphorae known as “the Class of the Seven Lobster Claws” dating to the 4th century BC. A classical terracotta lobster vase is part of the exhibition to provide a link with Colbert's surrealistic sea creatures.
The House of the Lobster exhibition runs until the 26th August 2023.
