Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland exhibition: how an odd pairing bring out the best in each other

BERYL COOK Elvira’s Cafe

They are hung alternately, cheek to cheek, in a modest but thorough show at Studio Voltaire in London, two bodies of work that represent two seemingly disparate slices of 20th-century life.

A strange pair of bedfellows, one reveals a selection from the “dirty drawings” of leather grandaddy Tom of Finland (1920-1991), and the other paintings by British B&B-landlady-turned-national-treasure, Beryl Cook (1926-2008). This pairing seems obvious only after the fact, but this exhibition demonstrates several important correspondences between the two artists.

Raunchy, lolzy, guilt-free pleasure permeates the show. The two artists reveal people engaging in earthly delights: drinking, dancing, flirting, stripping and all manner of sex acts with breezy, gay abandon. All of these activities are distilled through two very particular ways of selecting from and configuring the world.

TOM OF FINLAND Untitled (From the Athletic Model Guild The Tattooed Sailor series)

Tom of Finland depicts fantastical hypermasculine beefcake bodies as vessels for leather – all bulges, boots and uniforms engaging in either furtive or vivid carnal excess.

This was born of formative experiences lusting after workmen as a teenager, and then when conscripted, cruising for soldiers during the blackouts of the second world war. This military world was then supplemented by other influences, such as 1950s motorcycle gang culture as exemplified by Marlon Brando in The Wild One (1953).

For Beryl Cook, her fetishes are equally specific: shoes, food, fat fingers, fags, make-up and flashy fashion. Strictly composed scenes of endless raucous revelry are dominated by monumental figures collaged out of these objects and attributes.

As the programme explains, the exhibition also aims to compare “the two artists’ distinct and coherent way of hyper-realising the body”. Whether in thongs, leopard print or tight leather, in this show at least, this formalised system of representation is overwhelmingly evidenced in exquisite depictions of the bum.

SEE THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY MARK DENNIS

Published: 24th July 2024

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