ARTI FAC TS
TOM OF FINLAND, UNTITLED, 1975 © TOM OF FINLAND FOUNDATION
THE PLEASURE
TOM OF FINLAND, UNTITLED, 1980 © TOM OF FINLAND FOUNDATION
OF P L AY TOM OF FINLAND, UNTITLED, 1989 © TOM OF FINLAND FOUNDATION
TOM OF FINLAND, UNTITLED, 1987 © TOM OF FINLAND FOUNDATION
HIS WORK IS ICONIC. IT’S IMMEDIATELY ENGAGING AND UNDENIABLY AROUSING. PERVASIVE AND FAMILIAR, HIS IMAGERY TAPS AT THE CORE OF SEXUAL INTRIGUES MANY GAY MEN UNKNOWINGLY SHARE.
His transcendence has become ever more obvious and his work has continued to garner attention and acclaim. Today, Artists Space in New York City is planning the first comprehensive survey on the work of Tom of Finland, including more than 140 drawings, rarely seen gouaches from the 1940s, over 600 pages of collages, and some early childhood drawings.
Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland, is without question one of the most impactful gay artists of the 20th century. Though it’s taken nearly 25 years since his death, the art community and the general public are finally starting to comprehend and acknowledge the wide-reaching artistic importance and cultural impact of his life’s work.
Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play will be the first exhibition to examine, analyze, and present the historic role that his art plays in addressing and transgressing stereotypes of gender, sexuality, race, class, and power relations.
Laaksonen’s recognition and notoriety grew out of his late-1950s contributions to Bob Mizer’s Physique Pictorial, the first all-nude, all-male publication that was a leader in the so-called “beefcake magazine” industry of the mid-1900s. In 1978 he had his first gallery exhibition and by 1984 he’d established the Tom of Finland Foundation, realized with the help of Durk Dehner. Though Laaksonen passed away in 1991, his work has continued to live on, thanks in large part to the foundation and the tireless work of its friends and supporters. In 2006 the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City accepted five Tom of Finland drawings as part of a much larger gift from The Judith Rothschild Foundation. Highlighting the gravity of Tom’s work as part of the gift, Harvey S. Shipley Miller, trustee of the foundation, noted, “As an artist he was superb, as an influence he was transcendent.”
62
This exhibition is a vital exploration of one man’s prolific work. His interpretation and rethinking of the foundation of masculinity has permanently influenced and shaped modern gay culture. Make it a part of your Pride experience.
INFORMATION Opening: Saturday, June 13, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Duration: June 14 to August 23 ABOUT ARTISTS SPACE Founded in 1972 in Downtown New York, Artists Space has, for four decades, successfully contributed to changing the landscape for contemporary art— lending support to emerging artists and emerging ideas alike. Artists Space has introduced a number of artists to a wider public, amongst them: Cindy Sherman, Sherrie Levine, Louis Lawler, Jack Smith, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Mike Kelley.