Bottoms up! The joyfully lewd art of Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland

Once dismissed as bawdy kitsch, the two artists’ work has found a new generation of fans. A new exhibition celebrates their embrace of sexual liberation – and some ‘amazing bums’

The ways in which artists become accepted by the art world are many and complicated. Take the reputations of Beryl Cook (1926-2008) and Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland (1920-1991). Both spent most of their careers having their work either ignored or actively disdained by the establishment: Cook cast as purveyor of saucy seaside postcards in oil, Tom as homoerotic cartoonist. Then, later in life and having already attracted significant followings outside the gallery and museum systems, they were eventually granted some sort of official approval.

“But they have far more in common than just career trajectories,” says Joe Scotland, director of Studio Voltaire in London and co-curator of a new joint exhibition. “In formal terms they both articulate the human figure in very distinctive and hyper-realised ways. And from that emerges a wonderful sense of pleasure and fun and desire that is free of any sense of shame. You can also explore ideas around gender, class, politics, body image and much more in their work. And then, of course, there are simply joyous celebrations of some amazing bums.”