TOM OF FINLAND “Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works”

13th January 2023, 12:00 am

Date/Time
Date(s) - 13th Jan 2023 - 25th Feb 2023
All Day

Location
David Kordansky Gallery

0

Categories


Tuesday–Saturday, 10a–6p

NEW YORK

TOM OF FINLAND, Untitled (from “Setting Sail”), 1974, graphite on paper, 12 1/4 x 8 5/8 inches (31.1 x 21.9 cm), framed: 17 5/8 x 14 x 1 1/2 inches (44.8 x 35.6 x 3.8 cm). Photo: Jeff McLane

 

Tom of Finland: Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works features collages and drawings by the iconic artist. At the center of the exhibition is a full suite of impeccably rendered drawings from the series Kake vol. 21 – “Greasy Rider” (1978) and Kake vol. 22 – “Highway Patrol” (1980), both of which reference Tom’s collages and evolved from the artist’s preparatory sketches. These rarely exhibited panels are part of a larger collection of 26 Kake graphic novels made between 1968–1986. Titled after the comics’ protagonist and the artist’s alter ego, the illustrations showcase Tom’s diverse material approaches to his meticulous figurations and underscore the intricacies of his artistic process. First published in 1968, the Kake series was revolutionary for the time and quickly inspired a broad scope of Gay and Queer zines to come. The fantastical stories and iconic imagery created a form that inspired sexual awakenings, emboldened members of the Gay community to have more agency over their sexuality, and eventually extended into, and influenced, real-world Queer liberation movements. Tom of Finland: Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works offers a nearly complete glimpse into the transformative desire-driven approach to artmaking that has long distinguished the persona and vision of Tom of Finland.


Linda Simpson on Tom of Finland

    Tom of Finland David Kordansky Gallery True to his pseudonym, Gay erotic illustrator Tom of Finland was, in fact, a Finn. Born in 1920, he was by all accounts a humble man. As a young recruit in World War II, he was majorly inspired, creatively and sexually, by the hypermasculine, physically fit military… View Article


Tom of Finland speaks

    In this short video, Tom of Finland discusses how his work depicted joyful, empowered Gay men fully engulfed in their sexuality during an era when homosexuality was forbidden and even criminalized. Final days to see Tom of Finland: Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works, an exhibition of collages and drawings, including… View Article

Tom speaks 500


Tom of Finland “Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works”

    We’re in the decade of Tom of Finland. From the major 2015 exhibition at Artists Space in New York City to Dome Karukoski’s 2017 biopic Tom of Finland, the legendary erotica artist has enjoyed renewed visibility and critical appraisal. A new exhibition at David Kordansky Gallery in New York asserts his central role… View Article


Tom of Finland’s homoerotic world-building helped pioneer the Queer zine

    The Queer Finnish illustrator changed the world’s erotic imagination. A new exhibition at David Kordansky in New York draws out how he achieved it.   “I don’t even remember there not being a Tom of Finland,” said the writer Brontez Purnell at a panel to launch Tom of Finland: Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider,… View Article


How Quaaludes brought Durk Dehner to Tom of Finland’s attention

    It’s not common to take one’s seat at a dinner table and find the napkins adorned with a cock ring. During any other dinner celebration at The Standard Grill in the heart of New York City’s Meatpacking District, this rather unconventional motif would’ve scared off guests. Except when the honoree is Tom of… View Article


An intimate dinner with Durk Dehner of Tom of Finland Foundation at The Standard Grill

  Celebrating the latest show at David Kordansky Gallery in NYC     This past Thursday in New York saw the opening of TOM OF FINLAND Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works at David Kordansky Gallery. Following a panel and opening reception, Durk Dehner played host to an intimate dinner at The Standard… View Article


Tom of Finland — opening panel and reception

  Yes, I consider my work pornography. Pornography means to stimulate peoples’ sexual feelings, and I’m always very aware of that. My motive is lower than art… If I don’t have an erection when I’m doing a drawing, I know it’s no good… I find the animal in a man attractive… an object of desire…… View Article


Third time’s a charm

    In commemoration of the exhibition Tom of Finland: Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works, David Kordansky Gallery will release the publication Tom of Finland: Threesome in conjunction with the opening. Threesome will encompass numerous exhibitions presented by DKG since 2015. Tom of Finland: Threesome, a major new catalogue that documents three… View Article


Panel discussion and opening reception for TOM OF FINLAND “Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works”

12th Jan 2023 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm –   Join us in New York for a discussion on Tom of Finland’s life, work, and cultural impact, featuring Nayland Blake, Durk Dehner, Claire Gilman, and Brontez Purnell. The discussion will be followed by an opening reception at 6:30p for Tom of Finland: Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works, an exhibition of collages […]

Published: 13th January 2023

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