a b Slade, Joseph W.: Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide, Volume 2. Pp. 545–546. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. ISBN 0-313-27568-8 Millainen mies löytyy Tom of Finland -kuvien takaa? Touko Laaksosen sisarenpoika avasi kotialbumit HS:lle". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 5 May 2016 . Retrieved 19 October 2021. In a certain way, there was always a position of separatism with the leather men compared to the leather dykes. Which is why I’m so interested in the influence that Tom of Finland had on [the Canadian artist and publisher] G. B. Jones. For the first time within G. B. Jones’s zines, in which she adopted the style of Tom of Finland, I was able to see my own community and my own self, versus the fantasies that many of us carried of being leather daddies. For a long time, there was no language around transness, or folks that were gender nonconforming or nonbinary. And I think, similarly, perhaps when Tom of Finland was forging this iconic style, he really took ownership over his definition of what it was to be a homosexual, which was perhaps, at that time, a term that was viewed as weak or derogatory. For him to manifest this totally fantastical, empowered erotic vision, it was completely contrary to that. So, I think that aspect of his imagining is something that has definitely influenced me as an artist, in terms of me being able to understand and forge a possibility for myself. John Waters , Baltimore-based filmmaker Tom of Finland’s Untitled (Preparatory Drawing for Kake Vol. 16 — “Sex on the Train”) (1974). Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

Tom of Finland | Artnet | Page 2 Tom of Finland | Artnet | Page 2

Tom of Finland (Touko Laaksonen, 1920–1991) is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century’s most influential artists for his groundbreaking representation of the male figure. In his youth, Tom trained at an advertising school, but what he would come to call his “dirty drawings,” which he first began developing as a teenager, were the true focus of his attention, both during this formative period and throughout the entirety of his life. These masterful renderings of virile men engrossed in acts of homoerotic desire can be approached along several interpretative lines—art historical, social, technical—but each of them points to the revolutionary nature of his project. A master draftsman, whose passion for both his medium and his subject matter enabled him to become a powerful cultural force, Tom gave form to an imaginative universe that in turn helped fuel real-world liberation movements and enabled gay men to access their strength in new ways. Tom's drawings reaffirm the centrality of sexuality, joy, and the body in all areas of human endeavor. Paasonen, Susanna (2019). "Tom of Finland comes home, keeps on coming". Porn Studies. 6 (4): 446. doi: 10.1080/23268743.2019.1580448. S2CID 192556492. My aim is not to create an ideal but to draw beautiful men who love each other and are proud of it” – Tom of Finland

It is a unique, free exhibition, open to those over 18, and part of the official Tom of Finland Centenary celebrations, supported by the Finnish Institute. ArtLyst is the exhibition media partner. In my drawings I have no political statements to make, no ideology. I am thinking only about the picture itself. The whole Nazi philosophy, the racism and all that, is hateful to me, but of course I drew them anyway—they had the sexiest uniforms! In 1985, the artist Mike Kelley brought Tom of Finland to CalArts, the legendary Southern California art school, to give a talk. In his introduction, Kelley called Tom of Finland “an incredible inspiration in my work.” In context, it was a bold statement. “CalArts was steeped within the dogma of conceptual art, and Tom, of course, was anything but that,” the gallerist David Kordansky, who represents Tom of Finland’s work through the foundation, says. Karukoski's English-Language Debut Will Be Tom of Finland's First Authorized Biopic". Elsa Keslassy. Variety 13 September 2013 In 2020, as part of the 100th birthday celebrations, "Tom of Finland: Love and Liberation" at London's House of Illustration showed 40 originals with ephemera emphasizing fashion as an aspect of his work.

Tom of Finland: Art of Strong Gay Masculinity - DailyArt Magazine Tom of Finland: Art of Strong Gay Masculinity - DailyArt Magazine

a b c Hooven, F. Valentine, III: Gay histories and cultures: an encyclopedia. Volume 2 of Encyclopedia of lesbian and gay histories and cultures. p. 884. George E. Haggerty, editor. Taylor & Francis, 2000. ISBN 0-8153-3354-4 We love art history and writing about it. Your support helps us to sustain DailyArt Magazine and keep it running. An initially secretive postwar art practice begun while the artist was working a day job at an advertising agency developed into a career, spurred on by a successful submission, in 1956, to Mizer’s magazine, Physique Pictorial, which had to be branded as a fitness magazine as a cover, though that didn’t always work (Mizer was charged with obscenity in 1954). Early pieces published under the Tom of Finland moniker were more suggestive than explicit, but the artist’s work evolved with the loosening of both legal and social constraints. Even so, many of Laaksonen’s later, more explicit drawings retained the winking affability seen in his more formative work. a b c Ilppo Pohjola (author): Kari Paljakka and Alvaro Pardo (producers): Daddy and the Muscle Academy: Tom of Finland: United Kingdom: Oracle Home Entertainment: 2002. Nipa ja Touko Dortmundissa" (in Finnish). Finnish Postal Museum [ fi]. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016 . Retrieved 27 January 2023. Mäkinen menehtyi kurkunpääsyöpään heinäkuussa 1981

New York's Museum of Modern Art has acquired several examples of Laaksonen's artwork for its permanent collection. [35] In 2006, MoMA in New York accepted five Tom of Finland drawings as part of a much larger gift from The Judith Rothschild Foundation. The trustee of The Judith Rothschild Foundation, Harvey S. Shipley Miller, said, "Tom of Finland is one of the five most influential artists of the twentieth century. As an artist he was superb, as an influence he was transcendent." [36] Hudson, of Feature Inc., New York, placed Tom of Finland's work in the collections of Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art and Art Institute of Chicago. His work is also in the public Collections of: The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, USA; Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art; Turku, Finland; University of California Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley (California), USA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA; Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA; and Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles, USA. The defining traits of Kake's character are his friendly and easygoing personality, and his promiscuity. The character's affable disposition intentionally contrasts typical portrayals of leathermen in heterosexual culture as menacing or dangerous, while his frequent sexual encounters reflect the attitudes of the sexual liberation movement that emerged in the 1960s. [1] [2] Writer F. Valentine Hooven III notes that when the series focuses on subjects such as BDSM or rape fetishism, any sadistic acts performed by Kake are rendered as "innocent fun," and that the characters Kake performs these acts on are "welcome to do the same to him." [1]

Tom of Finland | Artnet Tom of Finland | Artnet

Hooven III, Valentine, Tom of Finland: The Official Life and Work of a Gay Hero. New York: Abrams, 2020, p.224. Laaksonen was born on 8 May 1920 and raised by a middle-class family in Kaarina, a town in southwestern Finland, near the city of Turku. [3] Both of his parents Suoma and Edwin Laaksonen were schoolteachers at the grammar school that served Kaarina. The family lived in the school building's attached living quarters. [4] Touko Valio Laaksonen (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), known by the pseudonym Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist who made stylized highly masculinized homoerotic art, and influenced late 20th-century gay culture. He has been called the "most influential creator of gay pornographic images" by cultural historian Joseph W. Slade. [2] Over the course of four decades, he produced some 3,500 illustrations, mostly featuring men with exaggerated primary and secondary sex traits, wearing tight or partially removed clothing. Prono, Luca: Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Popular Culture. p. 258. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. ISBN 978-0-313-33599-0 Throughout this timeline, Tom of Finland has remained a quintessential artist’s artist. In the early 1960s, the pioneering, boundary-pushing gay artist Robert Mapplethorpe, according to Patti Smith, discovered Tom of Finland’s work in a used bookstall in Times Square. Mapplethorpe would become a crucial link in exposing Laaksonen’s work to the contemporary art world. Mapplethorpe attended Laaksonen’s debut San Francisco exhibition at the pioneering queer art gallery Fey-Way Studios. Dehner facilitated the show, and Mapplethorpe’s enthusiasm helped the artist land an exhibition at Robert Samuel Gallery in New York two years later.Nudity started being an important subject in art in ancient Greece. The male body was celebrated at sports competitions or religious festivals, it... DailyArt Magazine needs your support. Every contribution, however big or small, is very valuable for our future. Thanks to it, we will be able to sustain and grow the Magazine. Thank you for your help! In 2015, Artists Space presented the exhibition "Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play" in New York City, USA. [38] The exhibition was also presented in Kunsthalle Helsinki in 2016, complemented with additional material such as photos from family albums. [39] Exhibition continues until Saturday 19 October. Open 12 to 6 pm, Wednesday to Saturday, with extended hours of 10 am to 6 pm on 10-13 October for The Lakes International Comic Art Festival.