POWER, CORRUPTION & JIZZ: 100 YEARS OF TOM OF FINLAND

9th September 2020, 11:59 pm

Excerpts

TOM OF FINLAND Untitled, 1977, Graphite on paper © 1988-2020 Tom of Finland Foundation

And while few could deny his figures of policemen are anything but a glorification, his drawings were ultimately an extremely subversive affront against one of the burgeoning gay community’s most violent oppressors. In turning them into sex objects, Tom was able to deconstruct and objectify their power, making them a bit more toothless to his audience in the process.

2020 marks the centenary of the legendary gay erotica artist Tom of Finland. Ahead of an exhibition recreating his first gallery show in Berlin (a welcome dose of bondage while Berghain itself turns into an art gallery), FRONTPAGE spoke to Durk Dehner, cofounder and president of Tom of Finland Foundation, to discuss the artist’s enduring – and arousing – legacy.

It’s hard to say how one gets to know the work of Tom of Finland. To start with, his aesthetic is, quite literally, all around us. His distinct style of man-on-man action has penetrated pop culture to an extent few other forms of erotica (if any) have come close to, reaching a level of ubiquity that is almost Warholian in terms of sheer exposure. Tom’s mustachioed muscle daddies can be found on everything from art books, tote bags, and coffee mugs, in addition to a world of branded erotic supplies encompassing dildos, butt plugs, and fisting gloves.

But regardless of its commercial appeal, the Tom of Finland aesthetic holds a significance that dwarfs even the most celebrated iconographies of contemporary art. In his unabashed celebration of gay sex at its most hardcore, Tom empowered generations of men by creating a visual language which validated underground practices into a sensuous realm of aspiration. So much of what we consider “fetish culture” today sprung from the pages of Tom’s illustrations, his work giving rise to real-world manifestations in gay clubs and sex shops around the globe.

“[Tom] stands for freedom,” says Durk Dehner, nicely summing up his appeal. A passionate devotee of Tom’s work who served as the artist’s right-hand man for decades, Dehner cofounded Tom of Finland Foundation in 1984 and still serves as the organization’s president. He also looks every bit the part, bringing a grizzled, beefcake charm to what, at his age, must technically be considered not a leather daddy so much as a leather granddaddy.

Durk photographed in Pleasure Park, named after one of Tom’s stories, at TOM House Highsnobiety / Ben Duggan

“He was the equalizer,” Dehner continues. “He wanted an equal playing field for everybody to be uninhibited. It takes a brave artist to draw things that are not politically correct, to actually express things as they are. Artists must all go through this process, thinking of how much they are willing to actually subdue, subject, or restrict themselves. But this was so simple to Tom, and that’s why young artists are so inspired by him.”

Dehner is speaking to me from Los Angeles, where he oversees the Tom of Finland House – a registered historical landmark which includes a gallery space, a vast archive of erotica by Tom and others, and a program offering residencies to artists from around the world (their list of collaborators includes everyone from JW Anderson to Cali Thornhill-Dewitt). The pandemic has of course disrupted operations, and Dehner stresses the loss of community resources that the Foundation offers to all walks of life, not just the strapping, muscled kind. “Young people come here and they are so enthralled and inspired by what hangs on the walls of the Tom house,” he says. “It transforms them.”

It is particularly devastating that the Foundation’s plans have been so affected in 2020, as this year is one of a landmark celebration – the artist’s centenary. And though many of the events honoring Tom’s legacy have been downsized, a very special exhibition arrives in Berlin on September 12 and will be on view through the end of the year. Titled Tom of Finland: Made in Germany, the show is an exact recreation of Tom’s first solo exhibition in Germany from 1976, which was held at sex shop called Revolt in Hamburg, along with a selection of some of his other works shown in the country at the time. In faithfully duplicating the era in which Tom shot to mainstream prominence, it pinpoints just how timeless his work remains.

TOM OF FINLAND Untitled, 1963, Graphite on paper © 1963-2020 Tom of Finland Foundation

As an individual who identifies as queer/trans-femme, I admittedly can be quick to dismiss elements of gay culture that are focused solely on the cisgender male gaze, finding it inarticulate of my experience at best, exclusionary at worst. Yet the context in which Tom created his work could not be any less exclusionary. His ‘leather daddy’ figures, for example, are now seen by many as lying on the more intimidating side of gay fetish culture, and yet this imagery finds its roots in Tom’s liberal adoption of the aesthetics of 1950s biker culture. Crystallized by Marlon Brando’s iconic, drool-worthy performance in the 1953 film The Wild One, this subculture was readily embraced by gay men for its anti-establishment status in post-War American society in addition to legitimizing a form of empowerment, of reclaiming toughness as a means to combat discrimination.

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Published: 9th September 2020

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