Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup cans, Roy Lichtenstein’s comic-strip paintings, and Richard Hamilton’s advertising collages. Pop art can be hard to define, but when you see it, you know what you’re looking at. And, as his new exhibition cements, Birmingham’s Peter Phillips was a central figure to this bold, culturally charged art movement.
Born in Bournville, Peter Phillips studied at the Birmingham School of Art before becoming a key figure in the international Pop art movement—in a career that placed him alongside iconic artists like David Hockney, Pauline Boty, Peter Blake, and later Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
Pop Goes Brum! honours the Birmingham‑born Pop artist with a vibrant, free‑to‑view outdoor exhibition in Snow Hill Square this June—showcasing artworks and photographs from one of the city’s most overlooked creative figures, and highlighting his deep‑rooted connection to Birmingham.
Although Peter Philips lived and worked across London, New York, Zurich, and Australia’s Sunshine Coast, his distinct Brummie humour and fascination with industrial and automotive imagery remained central to his work until his passing in June 2025, at the age of 86.
“I am thrilled to be curating this exhibition, which pays tribute to an overlooked pioneer of Pop art, Peter Phillips,” said Ruth Millington. “His Birmingham upbringing and art education was an enduring influence on this talented artist who transformed everyday life in the Second City into modern art which still feels fresh and full of energy today.
“Even though Phillips lived and travelled across the world, his Brummie sense of humour never disappeared, nor did the enduring influence of industrial and automotive imagery. He was intensely focused and serious, yet full of wit and sarcasm, deeply introspective, but also someone who enjoyed being seen, as his family remember him.”
Pop art is defined by bold imagery inspired by consumer culture, mass media, music, advertising, celebrity and everyday life. On display June 9 to 30, 2026, this exhibition will reconnect Birmingham with one of its unung heroes and will also feature contemporary works by current Birmingham School of Art students, where he studied and later taught.
