More than thirty steel lobsters arrive in Pompeii

Philip Colbert in Pompeii: Pop Mythology opened on 27 July 2026, distributing more than thirty lobster sculptures across the archaeological site and the surrounding Villa of Poppaea, Boscoreale, Villa San Marco and Villa Arianna. Twelve of the works had not been shown before. Ocula reported on 30 July 2026 that this is the first contemporary sculpture exhibition at Pompeii in three decades, and that Colbert is the first contemporary artist to show inside the city's houses.

The sculptures range from stainless steel to bronze patina, with a group of black steel robotic lobster warriors staged as future mythological relics. Colbert has used the lobster for two decades as a deliberately overblown pop figure. The project takes its cue from an ancient lobster mosaic in the House of the Faun, which is what keeps the intervention from feeling arbitrary. Contemporary work on archaeological sites risks turning ruins into a backdrop; the mosaic gives this one an argument.