From illegal art to world fame – Tom of Finland is now celebrated in Venice and Paris

The Finnish art collective The Community curated two international exhibitions sponsored by the Italian fashion brand Diesel.

TOM OF FINLAND Untitled, c.1966-1990

From the artist’s scrapbook: Tom of Finland compiled reference pages from the pictures he cut from the magazines and from his own photographs when sketching his work.

Tom of Finland (born Touko Laaksonen) will be 102 years old since his birth on 8th May, and 30 years have passed since his death, but his homoerotic art is still in full force. On his birthday in Paris, the AllTogether exhibition, which celebrates erotic art and LGBTQ + artists in general, opens, and its sister exhibition at the Venice Biennale opened in April.

For the first time outside of Los Angeles, the AllTogether group exhibitions present the Tom of Finland Foundation’s extensive and diverse collection of erotic art. The exhibitions have been produced by The Community art collective of Finnish descent in Paris, whose founding members Benjamin Pöntinen, Tuukka Laurila and Sini Rinne-Kanto co-curated the exhibition together with the Foundation.

“We are hugely proud that after many years of work, we were able to create the exhibition with the help of the Italian fashion brand Diesel and its creative director Glenn Martens. Martens is well acquainted with Tom of Finland’s production,” says Sini Rinne-Kanto, curator of The Community.

AllTogether Installation view

Tom founded the Tom of Finland Foundation in 1984 together with Durk Dehner, an Canadian-American businessman/film director/publisher. The duo had founded Tom of Finland Company in 1979 to manage the artist’s rights to publish and use art.

“There were a lot of unauthorized copies of Tom’s work before that and there were a lot of copyright issues,” says Rinne-Kanto.

The creative industry professionals living in Paris, Finland, founded The Community in 2016 because they saw the need for a new kind of interdisciplinary approach to the rather conservative cultural scene in Paris. The collaboration with Tom of Finland Foundation began in 2018.

“We were in Los Angeles and wanted to see TOM House in Echo Park. When we knocked on the door, Durk Dehner opened and offered to give a tour to Finnish tourists.”

The large 17-room house bought by Dehner in the 1970s became a haven for sexual minorities, home to many artists and hosting exhibitions and various events. The huge collection of erotic art, comprising about 12,000 works, was created in part by works donated by visitors and residents of the house.

AllTogether exhibits feature the work of about 80 artists from the 1940s to the present day.

“It’s interesting to see how many have admired Tom and are inspired by his work. It is also interesting to think about how works have moved around the world before the internet and when homoerotic art has been illegal.”

AllTogether Installation view

The friendship between him and Dehner that lasted for the rest of his life began with an exchange of letters. Dehner ran into a low-quality copy of Tom of Finland’s drawing at a leather bar in New York and was impressed. A mutual artist friend knew Tom of Finland and gave Dehner his address. The men first met in 1978 when Tom had his first show in Los Angeles.

“Tom of Finland’s pictures gave gay people a new positive identity. TOM’s Men differed from the previous catalog by being strong and confident. His work has also had an insane impact on fashion. For example, Tom promoted the popularity of black leather and leather accessories,” Rinne-Kanto analyzes the significance of Tom of Finland’s art.

The exhibition opening at the Venice Biennale was a success, and it seems that people have celebrated the exhibition amongst the endless options of the major art event.

“Tom of Finland’s work is very well known. We hope that these exhibitions will also highlight the Tom of Finland Foundation and its collection. I hope that the stories behind the work and, above all, the joy will be passed on to people. ”

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY JENNY JÄNNÄRI

Published: 9th May 2022

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