Philip Colbert is a contemporary British artist based in London. Colbert works across the mediums of painting, sculpture, clothing, furniture and design. Colbert was described by Andre Leon Talley as "The godson of Andy Warhol" . In September 2015 Colbert designed range of clothing as merchandise for The World Goes Pop exhibition Tate Modern,. Colbert had his first large scale paintings show at Saatchi Gallery. In 2017, the show featured Colbert's large scale pop narrative paintings featuring his Lobster Alter ego. i-D magazine refers to Colbert as "the crown prince of pop art" In 2018 Colbert launched the Popcorn Group to produce feature films and theatre .
Life
Philip Colbert is married to Charlotte Colbert artist and screenwriter.
Education
Colbert was educated at Strathallan School, and at St Andrews University. He graduated with an MA in philosophy and started building his creative language from there. Building a wholistic cross genre approach to art.
Artwork
Colbert's paintings follow from a dialogue established by pop painters Richard Hamilton, James Rosenquist and Roy Litchenstien. Colbert's works involve appropriation. Colbert refers to his alter ego as "a cartoon contemporary protagonist of surrealism". Colbert's paintings bring together old master influences from Rubens to Van Dyck and his obsession with everyday consumer imagery and the saturation of digital media. Colbert's sculptural work includes wearable artworks, such as the "Urinal Dress, Meat Dress & Washing Machine Dress ". “We live in a world of ultra pop saturation, a sort of mega pop world where mass intake of Instagram and social media imagery merges with artistic memory," says Colbert.
Colbert established the Rodnik Band label in 2008, a "Venn diagram" label encompassing fashion, music and art. The Rodnik Band have performed in New York, Milan, Tokyo, Paris and London. Celebrity fans including Kayne West, Anna Dello Russo, Karl Lagerfeld, Sienna Miller, Lily Cole, and Peaches Geldof. In 2009 Colbert created a Marcel Duchamp inspired urinal dress, as part of a series of wearable artworks. In June that year, Colbert interviewed philosopher Alain de Botton for Style.com about the role of fashion in modern society. In February 2010, Colbert launched a collection through Coin of iconic art themed The Rodnik Band clothing. During 2013 he collaborated with lookalike artist Alison Jackson to create a number of high-profile satirical stunts featuring iconic doppelgangers of famous celebrities at London Fashion Week, such as Royal fitting with Kate and Pippa Middleton, and an ultimate celebrity front row featuring the QueenElton John and Katy Perry. Philip Colbert was commissioned by Rita Ora in 2013 to create a series of outfits for her world tour. Among the outfits were a sequin Swiss cheese dress, popcorn print dresses, and double decker bus macs. Also in 2013 Colbert was approached by Peanuts comics to create a joint venture of Rodnik x Peanuts. This collection was launched in Selfridge's London with a window display and an event in the store, with live concert by Kate Nash, who herself created a special Rodnik Snoopy song. Cara Delevingne said she is a fan of the brand and featured on the Rodnik x Peanuts campaign film. In 2014 Colbert launched a world exclusive Rodnik x Belle collection at the Colette Store in Paris accompanied with a guerrilla catwalk show throughout Paris Fashion Week. In 2014 Colbert launched a range of Rodnik pop art furniture with online retailer made.com. In 2016 The Rodnik Band collaborated with Disney to create Rodnik x Disney.
Video game
During the COVID-19 pandemic Colbert developed an animated game where the Lobster, his signature protagonist, is fighting off the coronavirus.
