Beryl Cook’s characters step into the streets of Bicester Village

Beryl Cook and Friends brings the much-loved British artist’s exuberant characters out of the frame and into the Oxfordshire landscape, marking what would have been her 100th birthday.

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There is something particularly fitting about encountering Beryl Cook’s characters somewhere people have come to enjoy themselves.

A woman in a flamboyant dress appears among the shops. Elsewhere, figures garden, dance, shop and socialise. A pigeon watches from the greenery, while dogs and cats join the cast. Around them, visitors continue on their own journeys through Bicester Village.

For the next few weeks, Cook’s world has become part of the Oxfordshire landscape.

Beryl Cook and Friends, presented by House of Voltaire and Bicester Village, opened on 10 September — the day Cook would have turned 100 — and transforms the mile-long shopping destination with life-size cutouts, murals and installations drawn from some of her best-known paintings.

Cook, who died in 2008, became one of Britain’s most recognisable artists during the 1970s. Largely self-taught, she developed a visual language that was immediately distinctive: colourful, boldly drawn characters caught in moments of pleasure, mischief and everyday life.

Her subjects were rarely grand. They ate, drank, danced, shopped, gardened and went out. Yet Cook had an instinct for finding something theatrical in the ordinary.

That quality makes the Bicester installation particularly effective.

Rather than asking visitors to stand in front of a painting and look in, the project places them inside Cook’s world. Her characters occupy benches, balconies, green spaces, signposts and other parts of the Village, creating unexpected encounters as visitors move through the site.

One of the most recognisable installations is a full-scale recreation of Breakfast at Elvira’s, Cook’s 1996 painting inspired by the neighbourhood café originally run by her son and daughter-in-law.

It is the kind of scene that lends itself naturally to photography — and to the playful interaction that has always been part of the appeal of Cook’s work.

Visitors can pose alongside the characters, while other details are easier to discover by simply wandering. Look closely and the installation extends beyond its human figures, with Cook’s characteristic animals appearing among the trees and planting.

The project also places Cook in conversation with artists working today.

A House of Voltaire pop-up features editions and merchandise alongside specially commissioned work by artists and designers including Ashish, Jeremy Deller, Patrizio di Massimo, Anthea Hamilton, Chantal Joffe, Ella Kruglyanskaya, Linder and France-Lise McGurn.

Works by Stanley Spencer and Louis Wain, two artists who influenced Cook, provide a further connection between her work and the wider history of British art.

It is an approach that reflects the renewed interest in Cook’s work in recent years. A 2024 Studio Voltaire exhibition, Beryl Cook / Tom of Finland, became the organisation’s most visited exhibition in its history, while a retrospective at The Box in Plymouth earlier this year drew record audiences.

The centenary project therefore arrives at a moment when Cook’s work is being reconsidered by a new generation.

There is a more lasting legacy to the Bicester project, too.

The collaboration marks the beginning of a three-year partnership between Bicester Village and Studio Voltaire, providing funding for the arts organisation’s Learning Programme. The programme works with schools, colleges and community groups, offering free artist-led workshops, drop-in activities and skills development.

That makes the installation more than a seasonal visual intervention. Alongside the commercial and cultural spectacle, the partnership is intended to create opportunities for people who might otherwise have limited access to creative activities.

For Cook’s family, meanwhile, there is an obvious personal resonance to seeing her characters populate the Village.

Her granddaughter Sophie Howe has described the project as a playful tribute to an artist who loved watching people enjoy themselves, laugh and dress up.

It is perhaps the simplest way to understand why Cook’s work continues to lend itself so readily to public spaces.

Her paintings were never really about perfection. They were about people — often imperfect, frequently outrageous and usually having a good time.

At Bicester Village, those people have stepped out of the paintings.

For visitors wandering between the shops and cafés this autumn, Cook’s characters are no longer confined to a canvas. They are waiting around the next corner, sitting in the garden, appearing above a doorway or sharing the pavement.

And, 100 years after Cook’s birth, they are still enjoying themselves.

The Beryl Cook and Friends installation runs from 10 September to 25 October 2026. Bicester Village is open Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 8.00pm, Saturday from 9.00am to 9.00pm and Sunday from 10.00am to 7.00pm.