Art writing, curating & consulting. Author of MUSE (Vintage, 2022) and This Book Will Make You An Artist (Nosy Crow, 2024).https://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lyiuoytiws2qFor Dispatch, I wrote about Birmingham's overlooked prince of Pop art, who changed modernism alongside Hockney, Boty and Blake in London, before living his American Dream with Warhol. But he never forgot the industrial city which inspired his radical work https://www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/peter-phillips-prince-of-pop-art/10 Sep 2025 18:33 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyiuoytiws2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3ltetyns47c24For @theartnewspaper.bsky.social I remembered pioneering Pop artist PETER PHILLIPS (1939 - 2025) who drew on Birmingham's industrial culture to create groundbreaking, collaged paintings of car parts, comic books, flags and stars. He was witty and brilliant: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/07/07/remembering-peter-phillips-the-pioneering-british-pop-artist-who-has-died-aged-8607 Jul 2025 13:04 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltetyns47c24https://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3ljsdwyqax22bFor @birminghamlive.bsky.social I spoke to comedy legend Stewart Lee about Birmingham's overlooked Surrealist Emmy Bridgwater (whose house was on his paper round). I agree with him - we all need to shout a little louder about our city's culture: https://birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/surrealism-arrived-streets-solihull-3115338507 Mar 2025 15:42 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljsdwyqax22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3ljmofpetfc2wOvernight, something surreal may have arrived in Solihull05 Mar 2025 09:34 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljmofpetfc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3ljjwteiq722sFor @artukdotorg.bsky.social I wrote about Solihull's striking bird sculptures and the power of public art to transform a place. There's more on its way to the borough this week! https://artuk.org/discover/stories/taking-off-public-art-in-solihull04 Mar 2025 07:26 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljjwteiq722shttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3ljckoceedc2c'A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace' by Maria Primachenko, 198201 Mar 2025 09:00 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljckoceedc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lj7x54mdfk27NEW column: For too long, women have been told to choose between children and a creative career. However, 12 artist-mothers have shattered this myth with their playful exhibition MOTHERSHIP at Birmingham's Stryx Gallery https://ruthmillington.co.uk/women-artists-motherhood/28 Feb 2025 08:05 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lj7x54mdfk27https://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lj5gjbwwwk2vGiant beetles are crawling towards the Midlands, where 'Surreal Solihull' opens in just 1 week! The FREE exhibition is accompanied by a programme of performances, children's workshops and more. Expect the unexpected... https://mailchi.mp/ichoosebirmingham.com/527?e=d21aaa667127 Feb 2025 08:03 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lj5gjbwwwk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lj36fd5zxk2u'The Late Sleeper' by Birmingham surrealist Conroy Maddox, 197326 Feb 2025 10:32 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lj36fd5zxk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lj34kjhuh2251 week to go! So printing in action for Surreal Solihull 👁26 Feb 2025 09:59 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lj34kjhuh225https://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3liff5tuzuk2oRule no. 1 for women artists: do not get married to a great male artist. He will eclipse you for eternity, as the title of this feature proves! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/02/17/bronze-sculpture-rodins-lover-found-paris-sells/17 Feb 2025 18:34 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3liff5tuzuk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3licasgc4zk24'Allegory of Winter' by Remedios Varo, 194816 Feb 2025 12:38 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3licasgc4zk24https://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3li5lbsm3lk23Can't wait to see MAC's spring exhibitions! The galleries will centre 2 female artists who've taken their own bodies, families, motherhood and domestic spaces as inspiration for feminist work. The 'Family Album' by Marcia Michael and Su Richardson: In Stitches - both open Fri 14 March!14 Feb 2025 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3li5lbsm3lk23https://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lhqn6n6r522bLong overdue, the leading role of the artist's muse is being celebrated in a spate of museum exhibitions. Delighted to see Leigh Bowery! at Tate, plus Matisse and Marguerite at Musée d’Art Moderne opening soon! https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/feb/08/matisse-muse-new-paris-exhibition-dedicated-to-the-illegitimate-daughter-he-spent-a-lifetime-painting09 Feb 2025 12:32 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhqn6n6r522bhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lhit4bb7222n1 month to go! Until Solihull's streets transform into something surreal... https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/free-outdoor-art-exhibition-coming-3090170306 Feb 2025 09:57 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhit4bb7222nhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lhhbezlnwc2iEmmy Bridgwater, 'Night Time Phoenix', c.194505 Feb 2025 19:07 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhhbezlnwc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lh4yetnquk2vInside the fantastical mind of artist, director and storyteller Tim Burton @designmuseum.bsky.social01 Feb 2025 16:59 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lh4yetnquk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lh44a6t4nc27So pleased to see this coverage of Surreal Solihull! https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3w89ngx731o01 Feb 2025 08:35 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lh44a6t4nc27https://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lgwzkgl74c22For my first column of 2025, I wrote about great British Surrealist Emmy Bridgwater and a new exhibition I'm curating in her honour. Opens 6 March in Solihull! https://thecoretheatresolihull.co.uk/whats-on/all-shows/surreal-solihull-outdoor-exhibition/2746730 Jan 2025 08:04 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lgwzkgl74c22https://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lgg3anq2bs2yI always love speaking about Warrington's "secret Lowry" Eric Tucker, but particularly when there's a brilliant new book about his incredible art and life story soon to be published... https://theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/jan/23/secret-lowry-gravedigger-eric-tucker-northern-life-factory-pub @canongate.co.uk23 Jan 2025 14:19 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lgg3anq2bs2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lfpyrxfxik2bKing and Queen of the fairies, from The Song of Los, 1795, by William Blake.14 Jan 2025 19:37 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfpyrxfxik2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lfl2rpywps2lI'm beating the January blues by planning exhibition trips to: ✨ Tim Burton @designmuseum.bsky.social ✨ Emily Kam Kngwarray @tate.bsky.social ✨ Ithell Colquhoun @tate.bsky.social ✨ Edvard Munch @ NPG ✨ Anna Ancher @dulwichgallery.bsky.social ✨ Rembrandt @ BMAG ✨ Picasso @ British Museum12 Jan 2025 20:29 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfl2rpywps2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/ruthmillington.bsky.social/post/3lfkljidynk2wSunday mood. 'Laurette's Head with a Coffee Cup' by Henri Matisse, 191712 Jan 2025 15:56 +0000at://did:plc:ay2d342qfmzznnz4dkemtl3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfkljidynk2w