Unit London presents Philip Colbert 'Hunt Paintings', the London-based pop artist's largest solo exhibition to date, featuring twenty-five works. Philip Colbert will exhibit new pieces, including the large-scale Hunt Paintings and a series of monumental sculptures. The exhibition, curated by Sasha Craddock, will run over three galleries, including a virtual reality experience, which will allow the audience to immerse themselves in Colbert's World of Art.
Colbert's practice encapsulates the spirit of Pop art through his humorous, colourful, and flamboyant creations. Described as "the Godson of Andy Warhol", by Andre Leon Talley, Colbert continues the dialogue established by artists such as Richard Hamilton, James Rosenquist and Roy Lichtenstein. His multidisciplinary approach, with a focus on oil painting, updates the legacy of Pop art collage for the internet age, pushing the boundaries of artistic imagery.
Philip Colbert comments: "I am very excited to be holding my largest show to date at Saatchi Gallery, in collaboration with the amazing team at Unit London. Saatchi Gallery is a brilliant platform for my new large-scale works, which reflect the hyper saturation of our culture and our crazy, ferocious appetite for image consumption."
The new vibrant canvases on show at Saatchi Gallery, including the monumental Hunt Triptych and Lion Hunt, maintain Colbert's wildly exuberant style, while alluding to the compositions of Colbert's artistic predecessors. Colbert's ability to reference the epic narratives and heroic configurations of the Old Masters, from Reubens to Van Dyck, while presenting topical themes around digital media and contemporary consumer imagery, place him in a unique and influential position - from which he is simultaneously able to comment on the world around him, whilst maintaining a connection to the influence of those that have come before him.
The oil paintings challenge and toy with the viewer's cultural vocabulary, superimposing commonplace banal objects onto painted faces and merging portraiture with popular culture in a Magritte-like fashion. Frequently narrated by the distinctive personality of Colbert's comical lobster alter ego, he states, "I became an artist when I became a lobster". A monumental lobster figurine will feature in the Saatchi exhibition, alongside a lobster army, bringing to life Colbert's artistic personality.
Hunt Paintings marks Philip Colbert's return to Saatchi Gallery after his first painting exhibition was on display there a year and a half ago. Over this time Colbert's intricate and complex works have garnered international acclaim and media coverage. In August 2018 he participated in Unit London's iconic Looking For U group show, and has since held exhibitions at The Power Long Museum in Shanghai, China and MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in Chengdu, China, Galerie Nichido in Tokyo, Japan and the Kasama Nichido Museum of Art in Kasama, Japan."
Philip Colbert, Boar Hunt II, 2018
Living and working in London. Colbert is known for his multidisciplinary approach, creating a "World of Art". Deeply entwined with pop theory, Colbert works across the mediums of painting, sculpture, clothing, furniture & design. Described as "the Godson of Andy Warhol" by Andre Leon Talley. Colbert's large-scale oil paintings push the boundaries of contemporary narrative painting, they follow on from a dialogue established by artists such as Richard Hamilton, James Rosenquist and Roy Lichtenstein.
Unit London remains firmly committed to its core principles that art should be celebrated, inclusive and undivided. Founded in 2013, Unit London was born from an innate desire to break down the barriers of elitism and create new innovative pathways into the contemporary art world, recognised for its pioneering approach to digital media and role in expanding and diversifying audiences using new technologies.
Since its inception, Unit London has strived to provide a unique and experimental platform for the world's most distinctive emerging talent, showcasing their work to a culturally curious audience across the globe.
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