![An exhibition catalogue from Paul Holberton Publishing featuring a minimalist design. It boasts a white background with a circular cutout in the center, displaying a collage of leopard print and grayscale imagery. The title "Rexy | Tom of Finland" is elegantly printed at the bottom right corner, highlighting an exquisite collaboration with Studio Voltaire.](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0688/5359/files/Beryl-Cook_Tom-of-Finland_Cover_750x938_crop_center.png?v=1721821194)
![An exhibition catalogue from Paul Holberton Publishing featuring a minimalist design. It boasts a white background with a circular cutout in the center, displaying a collage of leopard print and grayscale imagery. The title "Rexy | Tom of Finland" is elegantly printed at the bottom right corner, highlighting an exquisite collaboration with Studio Voltaire.](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0688/5359/files/Beryl-Cook_Tom-of-Finland_Cover_750x938_crop_center.png?v=1721821194)
Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland
Exhibition Catalogue
£20
This catalogue brings together the work of two cultural icons for the very first time: Beryl Cook (1926–2008) and Tom of Finland (1920–1991). It is published to accompany the 2024 exhibition 'Beryl Cook / Tom of Finland' at Studio Voltaire in London.
Dimensions
Paperback, 250 x 200 mm
Finishing
96 pages, over 70 illustrations
![A drawing featured in the *Exhibition Catalogue* by Paul Holberton Publishing displays a muscular man clad in a sleeveless shirt and jeans, facing away while giving a thumbs-up. In the background, evocative of Tom of Finland's style, is an individual in a leather jacket seated on a motorcycle, seemingly looking towards the first man. The left side contains text detailing the artwork.](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0688/5359/files/Beryl-Cook-Tom-of-Finland-Catalogue_Spreads16_750x600_crop_center.png?v=1721918083)
![A spread in the Exhibition Catalogue by Paul Holberton Publishing showcases a painting on the right page of a cheerful, larger woman with blonde hair, pink earrings, a white blouse, and a red skirt holding a drink in a bar. Two patrons behind her, depicted in Beryl Cook's playful style, have content expressions. The left page is covered with text.](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0688/5359/files/Beryl-Cook-Tom-of-Finland-Catalogue_Spreads9_750x600_crop_center.png?v=1721918088)
About The Artwork
'Beryl Cook / Tom of Finland' puts the work of these two artists into conversation for the first time. The pairing is perhaps unexpected, yet immediate and compelling relationships between their practices are evident. Fundamentally, both artists employed a sustained and coherent way of hyper-realising the body in images that celebrate pleasure and deny shame. Together, their works reveal interconnected ideas surrounding sexuality, gender, taste and class. Artist and writer Huw Lemmey has contributed an incisive new essay exploring the queer contexts inherent to Tom of Finland’s work, but that also finds latent resonance in Cook’s paintings of gay bars and shapely women. He further considers the commercial forms of distribution that made their complex bodies of works highly accessible. Spanning five decades of paintings, drawings and archival materials, this companion catalogue contributes to new readings of the artists’ practices and their enduring impact on popular culture. Edited by Joe Scotland, Nicola Wright and Callum Whitley Texts by Huw Lemmey, Joe Scotland and Nicola Wright