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Exhibition: Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland – Studio

Voltaire, London
 31 March, 2024 (https://vadamagazine.com/entertainment/arts/exhibition-beryl-cook-and-tom-of-finland-

studio-voltaire-london)  Tim Firmager (https://vadamagazine.com/author/tim-firmager)

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and travel writer across the globe. When he's not working as one of the (ht
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From May to August 2024, Studio Voltaire in London hosts a new exhibition of fleshy excesses
bringing together the work of two cultural icons: Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland.

The Beryl Cook / Tom of Finland exhibition will provide a significant refocus and reveal
interconnected ideas surrounding gender, sexuality, taste and class. Both artists have a distinct and
coherent way of hyper-realising the body in images that fundamentally celebrate pleasure and deny
shame. Tom of Finland’s drawings of gay men proudly revelling in their sexuality both redefined and
deconstructed conventions of masculinity. Cook’s paintings are often deliciously camp but derive from
keenly observed social interactions. The women in her works are not caricatured but rather command
the space of the painting in complex, vivid and entirely believable portraits.

The exhibition will include a rich archive of materials, many of which have never been seen by the
public, including fan mail, preparatory sketches, source photography, and early publications and
merchandise that illuminate their working processes. Many of Cook’s original paintings entered
private collections, but there are now limited records remaining of their whereabouts. Studio Voltaire
is keen to hear from anyone who has an original painting and is interested in loaning work for the
exhibition, particularly Cook’s inimitable depictions of women—confident, defiant and joyous.
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The exhibition will run 15 May to 25 August 2024.

Both artists received their first solo exhibitions in the 1970s; however, their audiences more frequently
encountered their work outside of gallery and museum systems. The artists directly engaged with
their audiences, gaining dedicated and enduring followings and subsequently impacting a wider
popular culture.

About Beryl Cook

Beryl Cook (b. 1926–d. 2008) was a painter renowned for her exuberant style and depictions of
everyday life. Her work chronicled the social milieu of the areas she lived in and visited, notably in
Plymouth. Her most enduring images are of larger-than-life women carousing in nightclubs, eating in
cafés or enjoying ribald hen parties, rendered in graphic and colourful forms. Cook’s work came to
prominence in the mid-1970s, and she quickly became known as one of Britain’s best-loved artists,
highly recognised for her distinctive works, which are both celebratory and provocative.

About Tom of Finland

Tom of Finland’s (b. 1920–d. 1991) pioneering depictions of homosexual machismo in his images of
bikers, cowboys, labourers, and uniformed soldiers and sailors broadly represented queer, leather and
muscle communities. A master draughtsman, his works gave form to an imaginative universe that, in
turn, helped fuel real-world liberation movements and had a significant influence on a wide range of
cultural figures, including the Village People, Freddie Mercury, Jean Paul Gaultier and Robert
Mapplethorpe. Tom of Finland first published his work via proto-porn “fitness” magazines and a
covert but extensive network of friends and followers.

Studio Voltaire is located at 1A Nelsons Row, Clapham, SW4 7JR

For more information about this and other exhibitions at Studio Voltaire, visit studiovoltaire.org
(https://studiovoltaire.org/whats-on/beryl-cook-and-tom-of-finland/).

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POSTED UNDER ARTS (HTTPS://VADAMAGAZINE.COM/CATEGORY/ENTERTAINMENT/ARTS)

 TAGGED BERYL COOK (HTTPS://VADAMAGAZINE.COM/TAG/BERYL-COOK) QUEER ART

(HTTPS://VADAMAGAZINE.COM/TAG/QUEER-ART) STUDIO VOLTAIRE (HTTPS://VADAMAGAZINE.COM/TAG/STUDIO-VOLTAIRE)

TOM OF FINLAND (HTTPS://VADAMAGAZINE.COM/TAG/TOM-OF-FINLAND)

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About Tim Firmager
Tim divides his time being a Digital Consultant in The City and as a food and travel writer
across the globe. When he's not working as one of the Lifestyle Editors here at Vada, he's
planning his next trip, or on the lookout for the latest food crazes or unusual foods in
London's markets.

 (https://twitter.com/timmy_uk)
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View all posts by Tim Firmager → (https://vadamagazine.com/author/tim-
firmager)

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