Scottish-born pop artist Philip Colbert has opened his first museum exhibition in the United Kingdom at The Lightbox Gallery & Museum in Woking, Surrey.
Known internationally for his cartoon-inspired red lobster character, Colbert has brought together 26 paintings and sculptures for the exhibition. At its centre is The Lost Gardens of Lobsteropolis, the largest painting the artist has created to date.
Measuring five metres high, the monumental work presents hundreds of red lobsters moving through a fantastical landscape filled with ruins, buildings, octopuses, flowers and contemporary cultural symbols. One of the lobsters wears a striped shirt in a playful reference to the popular Where’s Wally? character.
A Monumental Painting Completed in Six Months
Philip Colbert’s work combines references to art history and ancient mythology with images drawn from contemporary popular culture. In The Lost Gardens of Lobsteropolis, these different visual worlds collide within an imagined lobster civilisation.
The artist initially developed the painting through sketches before modelling his ideas digitally. The composition was then projected onto the canvas and painted in Colbert’s studio with the assistance of his team.
The work took approximately six months to complete.
Colbert explained that ambitious projects can initially appear overwhelming, but that major ideas become achievable when the creative process is divided into smaller stages.
Inside the Surreal World of Lobster Man
Although lobsters had appeared frequently in Philip Colbert’s earlier work, the artist fully adopted the red lobster as his artistic persona in 2017. Since then, he has become widely known as “Lobster Man.”
Alongside the monumental painting, the Woking exhibition features new floral works, shaped canvases and large-scale sculptures exploring Colbert’s colourful and surreal visual universe.
Sarah Brown, director of The Lightbox Gallery & Museum, described Colbert’s work as a combination of hyper-pop imagery, surrealist history painting and playful storytelling.
She said the artist’s larger-than-life lobster alter ego helps make complex cultural and historical ideas accessible, inviting visitors on an entertaining journey through art and history.
From Pompeii to Woking
Philip Colbert previously became the first contemporary artist to exhibit in Pompeii, where 36 of his sculptures were installed inside historic houses and archaeological spaces across the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The artist also highlighted Woking’s connection with science-fiction writer H.G. Wells, suggesting that the town’s association with imaginative world-building made it a particularly appropriate setting for the exhibition.
Philip Colbert’s exhibition at The Lightbox Gallery & Museum will remain open to visitors until 1 November 2026.
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