Birmingham Colmore, the curators of Colmore Life, is set to honour pioneering Birmingham‑born Pop artist Peter Phillips with a vibrant, free‑to‑view outdoor exhibition in Snow Hill Square this June.
Pop Goes Brum! will showcase striking artworks and photographs celebrating one of the city’s most overlooked creative figures.
Art-O-Matic Riding High, 1973-74 by Peter Phillips © Peter Phillips
Born in Bournville, Phillips studied at the Birmingham School of Art on Margaret Streetbefore becoming a key figure in the international Pop art movement. His career placed him alongside iconic artists including David Hockney, Pauline Boty, Peter Blake, and later Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, cementing his position in the era’s bold, culturally charged art scene.
Pop Goes Brum! not only reflects Phillips’ pioneering artistic achievements but also celebrates his deep‑rooted connection to Birmingham. Although he 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.
Curated by art historian and author Ruth Millington, the exhibition will explore Phillips’ immense contribution to the Pop art movement; a movement defined by bold imagery inspired by consumer culture, mass media, music, advertising, celebrity and everyday life.
Ruth Millington said: “I am thrilled to be curating this exhibition, which pays tribute to an overlooked pioneer of Pop art, Peter Phillips. 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.”
The exhibition will also feature contemporary works by current Birmingham School of Art students, creating a meaningful link to Phillips’ alma mater, where he both studied and later taught.
- Peter Phillips pictured in the late 1969s with Claude-Marion Xylander, his future second wife.
- Custom Painting n.5 (1965). Copyright Peter Phillips.
- Peter Phillips in his studio on Holland Road.
Melanie Williams, Lead for the Colmore Placemaking Working Group, which have funded the exhibition, said: “We are incredibly proud to bring Pop Goes Brum! to Snow Hill Square and to shine a spotlight on Peter Phillips, a remarkable Brummie talent whose influence has quietly shaped the global Pop art movement.
This exhibition not only honours his legacy but also reconnects Birmingham with one of its most significant cultural trailblazers. By showcasing both Phillips’ work and that of today’s Birmingham School of Art students, we’re celebrating the city’s creative past, present and future – something we’re deeply committed to championing at Birmingham Colmore.”
Event Details
Pop Goes Brum!
Dates: 9–30 June 2026
Location: Snow Hill Square, Birmingham
Admission: Free
Developed in partnership with Birmingham School of Art (Birmingham City University) and Birmingham Colmore, the exhibition is fully supported by the artist’s family.
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