“TOM OF FINLAND” at Die Tankstelle

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday 2nd May from 6-9p

For the inauguration of Die Tankstelle, Galerie Judin presents some twenty-five masterpieces by Tom of Finland.

Tom of Finland is embedded in our cultural and visual memory with his drawings. As one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, he easily combines various superlatives. Tom of Finland is an icon of the Gay movement, of fashion and fetish, of art history, and of pop culture in particular. His legacy is enduring, having inspired the likes of David Hockney and Jean Paul Gautier, Freddie Mercury and Robert Mapplethorpe – and many others to this day.

It is easy to forget the real person and the story behind the pseudonym: Touko Laaksonen, born in Finland in 1920,  started out as a musician, turned into a successful commercial artist and, from the 1940s onwards, created the work we associate with him today as a sideline. The need of a pseudonym reflects not least the illegality at that time of his explicit depictions of Gay sex. It was only in later years that Tom was able to devote himself fully to his art making.

Tom of Finland’s powerful, handsome, proud Gay men established a new prototype of physical and mental, almost unattainable, perfection. To this day, it remains a powerful endorsement of self-confidence and sexual self-determination, far beyond Queer circles.

From today’s perspective, not every aspect of what was undeniably progressive back then meets our modern-day standards: Tom’s work has always been fundamentally about non-negotiable human rights.

Coinciding with Gallery Weekend Berlin, Tom of Finland is one of two inaugural exhibitions for Die Tankstelle, a new collaborative art space shared by Galerie Judin and Pace, which will house galleries, offices, and an adjacent cafe and bookshop. In a complementary presentation, Pace will showcase an exhibition dedicated to works by Jean Dubuffet, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Robert Nava.

OPENING NIGHT