“not to create an ideal but to draw beautiful men who love each other and are proud of it”

6th March 2020, 9:30 am

This celebration of beautiful beefy bodies includes rarely seen works such as linocuts produced in limited editions and striking images of Durk Dehner, the co-founder of the Los Angeles-based Tom of Finland Foundation, which has loaned most of the works. At the exhibition launch, Dehner singled out a portrait of himself, aged 28. “He captured my soul; that was a birthday present,” he said, adding: “We tried to pull out things [from the archive] that would surprise audiences.”

These undiscovered, unashamedly gay images include some Matisse-inspired pieces dating from 1978 and a work depicting an interracial couple that could not be shown in the US. “Tom elevated the self-esteem of homosexuals. Besides, sexiness never goes out of style,” Dehner quipped.


“TOM OF FINLAND Love and Liberation” CLOSED due to pandemic

6th Mar 2020 – 27th Jun 2020 @ All Day –           House of Illustration’s current site at King’s Cross, which has been closed since March due to the pandemic, will not reopen however; since its launch in 2014, it has hosted shows dedicated to artists such as Posy Simmonds and Tom of Finland. “Very sadly, we will not be able to […]

Published: 6th March 2020

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