07-07-2025
Peter Phillips obituary: A founder of pop art movement
In 1962 Peter Phillips was featured in Ken Russell's kaleidoscopic documentary Pop Goes the Easel for the BBC. It confirmed him as one of the pioneers of the burgeoning British pop art movement, which drew inspiration from mass media such as advertising, film and comic books and was seen as a more cerebral and ironic critique of contemporary society than its American counterpart.
At 22, Phillips was the youngest of the four artists to appear, along with Peter Blake, Derek Boshier and Pauline Boty. He appeared languid, even imperious: he did little in the film except sip coffee, chain-smoke and chew gum in a black turtleneck and blazer while he dabbed at a large canvas on which he had constructed a surreal hybrid of a racing driver, tiger and motorcycle.
