‘Radical and joyous’: Beryl Cook show aims to prove she was a serious artist | Exhibitions

In her lifetime Beryl Cook’s colourful, vibrant paintings tended to be dismissed by most critics as mere kitsch or whimsy.

A major retrospective of Cook’s work opening in her adopted city of Plymouth at the weekend makes the case that she was a serious, significant artist who skilfully chronicled a tumultuous period of social transformation.

“This is absolutely a moment for Beryl Cook,” said Terah Walkup, the curator at the Box, where the finishing touches are being put to the Pride and Joy show. “It’s so exciting – the place is awash with colour.” Like many staff members, Walkup was wearing an item of leopard-pattern clothing as she worked on the exhibition, a nod to a favourite Cook motif.

“Beryl Cook wasn’t painting caricatures,” she said. “She was documenting communities and identities that were actively marginalised with affection, mastery and honesty. Her work from the 1970s to 2000s captures working-class joy, body positivity, and queer culture.”

The exhibition comes at an apt time: 2026 is the centenary of Cook’s birth and it is half a century since a Sunday Times feature launched her into the public consciousness following her first exhibition at an arts centre in Plymouth.

It also coincides with the Devon city, better known for its naval history than its art, bidding to become the UK city of culture.

Cook, who died in 2008 aged 81, moved to Plymouth in 1968, and the city became her primary subject, its pubs, streets and lido vivid backdrops for her work.

The Pride and Joy show features more than 80 paintings, alongside rarely seen sculptures, textiles, and access to Cook’s personal archive of photographs, sketches and correspondence.

An “identity and representation” section highlights how she painted those who were “othered” and looked down upon whether through attitudes toward gender, class, sexuality or body shape.

Walkup flagged up a little-known 1972 painting called Bar Girls, which features two women with pints of beer. “It may not seem unusual today but in those days there were still some pubs that refused to serve women if they were unaccompanied by men. Here we have two women enjoying a full pint and each other’s company.

“She’s not making fun of her subjects at all – she’s painting people occupying spaces unapologetically. She celebrates her subjects and we think there’s something so important and radical and joyous in that.”

In a “process and practice” section, Cook’s meticulous methods of working are revealed. She mined media – from local television news to newspapers – for subjects and inspiration.

The “influences and impact” section highlights how Cook drew on sources ranging from “saucy” seaside postcards to the work of Amedeo Modigliani and Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Jemima Laing, the deputy leader of Plymouth city council, said Cook put the place on the cultural map. “For over 40 years, she painted our sailors, our shoppers, our pubs, our people, always with warmth, humour and genuine affection. While critics dismissed her, the public loved her, and now it’s time for long-awaited and hugely deserved critical recognition.”

Laing said larger than lifesize sculptures of some of her characters would be popping up across the city: “They’re Plymouth’s love letter to an artist who never stopped celebrating us.”

Julian Spalding, a writer and former museum director, said he was delighted Cook was being feted. “She’s one of the glories of British painting, a modern William Hogarth and Thomas Rowlandson rolled into one.

“I once asked her if she’d ever wanted to paint something that upset her. She said: ‘No. If I thought it would make any difference, I might. But I don’t.’ It’s joy that drove her to create.”