Peter Phillips

(British, born 1939)

Peter Phillips is a British artist known for his pioneering Pop Art paintings, collages, and sculptures. Melding commercial iconography with hand painted elements, the artist creates works that are both formally dynamic and thought provoking, as seen in his hallmark piece For Men Only¬¬¬¬¬¬-Starring MM and BB (1961). “There needs to be a game which is constantly played with the painting which is never resolved,” he explained. “It’s better that way when the painting is self-generative.” Born on May 21, 1939 in Birmingham, United Kingdom, he went on study at the Royal College of Art in London during the early 1960s, alongside fellow classmates David Hockney and R.B. Kitaj. While at school, he was introduced to the avant-garde works of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Sparked by his interest in the art coming out of New York, he moved to the city with his friend Allen Jones, mingling in the circles of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Over the following decades, Phillips travelled extensively, picking up inspiration from the various places he journeyed and incorporating it into his work. He is currently based out of Zurich, Switzerland. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Ulster Museum in Belfast, among others.