Sentosa’s Tanjong Beach Is Now A Giant Lobster Playground
Stephanie Zheng
Contributor | Urban List, Singapore
If you head to Sentosa this month and think you’ve accidentally wandered into a fever dream involving oversized seafood, you’re not wrong. International contemporary artist Philip Colbert has staged Lobster Beach, a full-blown public art takeover that transforms Tanjong Beach into a hyper-pop, lobster-filled spectacle, and it’s easily one of the boldest artist-led interventions Singapore’s seen in a while.
Image credit: Philip Colbert | Supplied
Running from 24 January to 15 February 2026, Lobster Beach sprawls across sand, sea and skyline, turning one of the island’s most recognisable leisure spots into an outdoor exhibition that’s deliberately playful, slightly absurd and very camera-ready. Colbert’s iconic lobster alter ego pops up everywhere: installed directly on the shoreline, around Tanjong Beach Club, and very much in your line of sight.
Image credit: Philip Colbert | Supplied
The main event is Lobster Ice Cream, an eight-metre-tall steel sculpture towering over the beach like a surreal seaside mascot. It’s semi-permanent, meaning this gloriously unhinged lobster is sticking around for years, effectively earning itself landmark status. Scattered nearby are massive inflatable works like the Lobster Shark, Lobster Octopus and Lobster Fish, which mash up marine life with Colbert’s cartoon universe, giving the whole beach a soft-sculpture-meets-theme-park energy that’s hard to ignore.
Image credit: Philip Colbert | Supplied
Timed with Singapore Art Week, the takeover doesn’t stop at the sand. Colbert is also presenting a solo exhibition, Temple of the Sunflower, at Whitestone Gallery from 24 January to 14 March 2026, alongside a special appearance at Art SG from 23 to 25 January. Together, the Sentosa installation, gallery show and art fair moment form a rare three-way collision of public art, gallery practice and international art-fair culture.
Whether you’re there for the art, the photos, or just to see a giant lobster loom over your beach day, Lobster Beach is very much a go-see-before-it’s-gone situation.
Lobster Beach can be experienced from 24 January at Tanjong Beach, Sentosa Island, 20 Tanjong Beach Walk. Merch and artwork are available to be purchased on site from 24 January to 15 February 2026.
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Main image credit: Philip Colbert | Supplied