A daring pairing—London gallery to launch joint exhibition featuring Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland

Studio Voltaire is seeking works by Cook who is known for her depictions of bolder, bigger women

BERYL COOK Lady of Marseille, c. 1990

The Studio Voltaire contemporary art space in South London presents an unusual pairing next spring—Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland. The exhibition (15th May-25th August) brings together the works of both artists, often considered art world outsiders, for the first time in a joint show.

UK-born Cook, who died in 2008, has long been derided in fashionable circles for her popular depictions of “larger-than-life women in nightclubs, cafés or enjoying hen parties, rendered in graphic and colourful forms”, says a gallery statement. Tom of Finland is best known for his highly homoerotic depictions of hyper-masculine men decked out in biker leather gear replete with bulging muscles and jutting jawlines.

“While the pairing was initially quite instinctive, as we further researched and spent time with both artist’s practices, the relationships and dialogues between the two have become stronger and more complex,” says Joe Scotland, the director of Studio Voltaire. “I’m really interested in bringing their potentially different audiences together to see how they respond to the exhibition, and each other; I think there might even be a natural crossover. But ultimately it’s about a position of denying shame and fully celebrating pleasure in life.”

SEE THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY GARETH HARRIS

Published: 4th January 2024

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