Esteemed art critic and curator Sacha Craddock accompanies Unit London's Pop art phenomenon Philip Colbert in a walk around his biggest solo show to date 'Hunt Paintings' at Saatchi Gallery.
In December 2018, Philip Colbert’s Hunt Paintings, presented by Unit London, featured twenty-five new works at Saatchi Gallery. The exhibition, curated by Sacha Craddock, ran across three galleries and included a virtual reality experience, which allowed visitors to immerse themselves in Colbert’s World of Art.
Philip Colbert, Dark Hunt Triptych, 2018
Colbert has an extraordinary 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. This places him in a unique and influential position – from which he is able to simultaneously comment on the world around him and maintain a connection to the influence of those who have come before him. In this in-depth conversation, Colbert talks for the first time in detail about his motivation to create such large-scale artworks and the way in which his ideas are conceived. In his words:
‘I want people to see an epic celebration of freedom and life and energy. I want to present a multi-layered philosophy, I am not presenting one voice, I am presenting an orchestra of voices. In a way, I am trying to capture something in these paintings- a saturation. When people talk about painting reality – I want us to consider – what is reality? Is it something we see in a traditional sense in front of us? Or is it the difference between what we see and what we think? My paintings are a reflection of the way I see a contemporary mindset. The hyperstimulation, the hyper-referencing, the fact that we consume so much through social media is such an interesting part of the way we consume art today. ‘
Watch the full walk-around interview with art critic and curator Sacha Craddock below. By popular demand, ‘Hunt Paintings’ will soon be shown as part of the VIP Programme at Frieze Los Angeles in February 2019 at the old Taschen Gallery. Click here to book tickets to the private view on 16 February.