Born in Birmingham, Phillips was a student at the Royal College of Art with David Hockney and Allen Jones. He began to use airbrush in his paintings to imitate the immaculate tone-work of commercial illustrations. With the help of Chris Prater at the Kelpra Press he experimented with screen-printing which proved to be the ideal medium for his work.

Pneumatics celebrates the power and styling of modern engine and automobile design using images from Hot Rod Yearbook, Playboy and Scientific American. They are icons of consumerism and car worship.

He said:

'I don't want to be a machine like Warhol, but I love the idea of using one.'