“AllTogether” | Jess Scott, Jim Shaw, John Waters and Johnny Smith

AllTogether features artists from the Tom of Finland Foundation collections.

JESS SCOTT (B. 1984, American)
Jess Scott is a self-taught artist working across different media and has developed projects like the arts publication Quinto Quarto Quarterly (Q.Q.Q.). Scott has led rock and roll groups based in San Francisco, CA, and sometimes curates the gallery project, “The Staircase,” showcasing like-minded artists in and around Los Angeles, CA. Scott co-curated with Seth Bogart the group exhibition Heaven and Hell at Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles, CA (2020). Scott lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

“[Tom’s] drawings were a story, almost a familiar cartoon, and seeing these while first trespassing taboos of adulthood is maybe one of the ideal artistic experiences of my life and very pure way to meet Tom.” – JS

JIM SHAW (B. 1952, American)
The practice of contemporary artist Jim Shaw spans a wide range of artistic media and visual imagery. Since the 1970s, Shaw has mined the detritus of American culture, finding inspiration for his artworks in comic books, pulp novels, rock albums, protest posters, thrift store paintings, and advertisements. His ever-growing collection of found artworks has been the subject of its own exhibition on several occasions. Shaw lives and works in Los Angeles, CA, and Milford, CT.

“These drawings were done for a set of artist drawn bubble gum cards of various obsessive figures. I chose Tom of Finland as he was a utopian pornographer who had sort of created a heroic/homoerotic archetype.” – JS

JOHN WATERS (B. 1946, American)
Over a career spanning four decades, visual artist John Waters has also been a film director, writer, actor, and journalist. Themes and motifs of provocation—race, sex, gender, consumerism, and religion—are unapologetically central to his practice and presented with a brand of wit and cynicism that is uniquely John Waters. He was named the 2016 Tom of Finland Foundation Cultural Icon. John Waters lives and works in Baltimore, MD.

“Tom of Finland is, of course, a great artist. There can really be no debate about that anymore. His drawings are beautiful, confident and sexy, totally original and butch-legant.  Tom of Finland uses great wit in his work, but he’s never funny. Can “funny” ever really be butch? Is humor, by definition, a little bit nelly?” – JW

JOHNNY SMITH (B. 1979, American)
Actor, writer, producer, and artist Johnny Smith attended the Performing and Visual Arts High School in Houston, TX, studying theater. Smith makes short films, comedic videos, and digital collages. His digital art blends the themes of surrealism, sex, silliness, and stupidity. Smith lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Discover more AllTogether artists

The exhibition tells the individual stories of the artists. At the same time, the exhibition locates parallels, interactions, and influences between Tom of Finland Foundation, Tom’s aesthetic impact, and the community of artists that have formed throughout the years around them…View

Published: 10th June 2022

Categorised in: Art Offering, Events