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

Photo by Abi Benitez

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 Finland. The juxtaposition of the pristine napkins, rolled into a phallic shape, cradled by the kinky toy served as a nod to the legacy of the late artist, putting erotica in places where society deems it lewd or unfit.

Through February 25th, the David Kordansky Gallery, in collaboration with Tom of Finland Foundation, is exhibiting some of Laaksonen’s rare drawings, from Kake vol. 21 “Greasy Rider” (1978) to vol. 22 “Highway Patrol” (1980), part of a larger body of work comprised of erotic graphic novels that he created between 1968-1986. On the night of the opening of Tom of Finland: Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and Other Selected Works, fans of all ages clogged the streets of Chelsea to catch a glimpse of Tom of Finland’s art. Some, like Durk Dehner, a collector of Tom’s work and the President and Cofounder of Tom of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles, were appropriately clad in tight leather. Prior to the after party at the Boom Boom Room, hosted by Susanne Bartsch, I had a brief moment with Dehner, during which he reminisced about the first time he encountered Laaksonen’s work—at a leather bar, no less—and talked about why it remains crucial to gay liberation.

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ERNESTO MACIAS: So, you first saw Tom’s drawings at a bar?

DURK DEHNER: I saw this drawing on the wall and it was for a motorcycle run, and what you did is you tore off the phone number and then you called the phone number and they would tell you where the run was going to happen. All the phone numbers were torn off, so I felt like I was not doing anyone a disservice by taking the flyer. It had this kind of magnetic pull on me and I didn’t know why. So the next day, because I’d won a leather contest at the Eagle’s Nest, which was the next bar up the street—I had a mentor, really a leather mentor, and his name was Louie Winegardner. And he was actually a composer and some of his music was played by the New York Symphony.

MACIAS: Oh, wow.

DEHNER: He lived in Hell’s Kitchen in an apartment that was completely black with no windows—the windows were painted over black, and all he had was a very long, gothic table with two gothic chairs on each end. And he was a real masochist. It was very natural for me to be able to dominate him, but he got me to enter this contest and he gave me a Quaalude, which really de-inhibited me.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY ERNESTO MACIAS

Published: 18th January 2023

Categorised in: Article, Durk on Tom, Events