The 'prince of pop art who was forgotten by his home' city finally gets exhibition

The 'prince of pop art who was forgotten by his home' city finally gets exhibition33 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleVanessa PearceWest MidlandsCourtesy of the Phillips familyAn exhibition is to be held in Birmingham marking the life of Peter PhillipsHe was a pop art pioneer, but he ended up being one of his home city of Birmingham's "most overlooked creative figures".But now Peter Philips, a "key figure" in the international pop art movement who died in June 2025, is to be celebrated with an exhibition to showcase his work. Phillips ranked alongside artists including David Hockney, Pauline Boty, Peter Blake, and later Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.The outdoor exhibition, Pop Goes Brum!, will reflect the artist's "pioneering achievements" and also celebrate his deep‑rooted connection to Birmingham, said art historian and author Ruth Millington.Although he lived and worked across London, New York, Zurich, and Australia his work was influenced by the city where he was born and he retained his "distinct Brummie humour," she said. Courtesy of the Phillips familyThe artist drew on the city's industrial iconography in his work Born in Bournville in 1939, he enrolled at Moseley School of Art aged 13, later studying at Birmingham School of Art.He would go on to teach there, as well as Coventry College of Art in the 1960s. "He was quite clear that his imagery and style both come from Birmingham where he learned an airbrush technique which you see in his paintings for his whole career," Millington explained."And then too it was growing up in that industrial city, surrounded by car manufacturing, that inspired his imagery of car parts, which he took apart and reassembled in the paintings."Courtesy of the Phillips familyQueen Elizabeth II was pictured at a exhibition showing his art, in the 1960sAfter moving to London to study at the Royal College of Art, his peers included Sir...