Nathalie Olah on Beryl Cook

20 Jul 2024 3-3.30pm

Overview

Writer Nathalie Olah leads a talk in response to the art of Beryl Cook.

Situating Cook in the British mid-century, Olah explores the artist’s work in relation to the academic interests of that time — namely pop-culture as a relatively new phenomenon, and the spread of American soft power through its entertainment machine. With reference to writers and theorists including Raymond Williams, Richard Haggard and Stuart Hall, Olah offers a re-reading of Cook’s practice.

This event forms part of our Saturday Talks series, in which artists, curators and writers lead personal responses to Beryl Cook / Tom of Finland. These talks, readings and performances are an opportunity to explore specific aspects of the exhibition, from 'bad taste' to class tourism, masculinity and sexuality in the military, and London's lost queer spaces.