The Tom of Finland Foundation Awards 2020 – 13th December

13th December 2020, 11:55 am

 

Performance artist Ron Athey (L) with award winners Rob Halford (upper right) and Larry Flynt, 2002

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
Saturday Night Awards Dinner

He may have needed his bodyguard to lift him from the black Bentley (license plate: HUSTLR) into the gold-plated wheelchair, but to the audience at the Foundation’s Awards Banquet in 2002, Larry Flynt stood tall: he was greeted with a prolonged standing ovation as he accepted the Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Board Member Dan Berkowitz presented the award, reminding the capacity crowd of Flynt’s longtime fight to protect First Amendment rights, and pointing out that without the efforts of people such as Flynt, events like the Art & Culture Festival wouldn’t exist.

In his acceptance speech, Flynt urged the crowd to speak up, speak out on issues, and never to allow their rights to be violated. He also encouraged artists to remember their duty to “piss people off” by pushing the envelope.

Board Member Cliff Benjamin presented the Erotic Artist Hall of Fame to Swiss artist H. R. Giger. The Award was accepted by renowned performance artist Ron Athey.

Adult film star and rock-n-roller Joe Romero presented the Cultural Icon Award created to honor someone whose artistic achievements and personal example cause him or her to become a role model to Rob Halford, former lead singer of the heavy metal group Judas Priest. Accepting the award, Halford confessed that he owed his Judas Priest butch leather look to Tom of Finland, explaining that, in an early appearance with the band, he wore his sister’s dress. His advice to the crowd at the dinner: “Keep it controversial!”

These annual awards are a blend of our history and our future.

Join us on 13th December at the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival: Plugged In
when we present the 2020 class of Tom of Finland Foundation awardees.

2020 AWARDS PRESENTATION


Tom of Finland Foundation Awards 2020

Tom of Finland Foundation Awards 2020 These annual awards are a blend of our history and our future. We present the 2020 class of Tom of Finland Foundation recipients. ARTIST HALL OF FAME FOR ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS AND STEADFAST COMMITMENT TO THE ART AND CULTURE OF OUR COMMUNITY Bruce LaBruce is a filmmaker, photographer, writer, and… View Article

Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival: Plugged In

11th Dec 2020 – 3rd Jan 2021 @ All Day – EXTENDED till the beginning of January 2021 NOTE this is LA time (PST) Tom of Finland Foundation is proud to announce its 25th Art and Culture Festival: Plugged In. The festival will be held online during the second weekend of December. “It’s so important to continue the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival – even […]

Published: 13th December 2020

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