Linda Simpson on Tom of Finland

TOM OF FINLAND Untitled, 1978, pen and ink on paper

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 aesthetic of Allies and Nazis alike (minus the fascism of the latter). He went on to invent a vast army of his own, featuring a battalion of big-dicked studs who were forever on the hunt for a good fucking and sucking. By the time he died in 1991, at the age of seventy-one, his reputation as an iconic pornographer was known the world over; it has only expanded since.

Starting in 1968, Tom developed a series of black-and-white graphic novels titled Kake, named after its mustachioed star character. Two different stories, rendered in pen and ink and arranged in sequential page order, were on display at David Kordansky Gallery. Both tales are rape fantasies that, in classic Tom of Finland fashion, are portrayed not as abhorrent, but rather as opportunities for playful debauchery, with plenty of position swapping so that everyone gets a chance to either top or bottom. The action is fast and furious: No need for lube or brushed teeth, it’s all wham, bam, fuck me man! The outrageousness of everything is downright comical.

READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW BY LINDA SIMPSON

Published: 5th April 2023

Categorised in: Art Offering, News