Tom of Finland Foundation Awards 2019

Danny Fuentes, Pierre Davis, Don Bachardy

The annual awards presentation saw a mix of our history and our future, all represented in the 2019 class of Tom of Finland Foundation awardees.

ARTIST HALL OF FAME
FOR ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS AND STEADFAST COMMITMENT TO
THE ART AND CULTURE OF OUR COMMUNITY

DON BACHARDY

A career spanning sixty years, it is an honor to induct Don Bachardy into the Tom of Finland Foundation Artist Hall of Fame. Don is a portrait artist, who studied art both in Los Angeles at the Chouinard Art Institute and the Slade School of Art in London;  he had his first one-man show in London, in 1961. Don has continued with exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston and New York. Seven books of his portraits have been published. A native of Los Angeles, and a long time resident of Santa Monica, where he resided with Christopher Isherwood. Don continues to work producing for both for gallery shows and commissions.

His works reside in the permanent collections of numerous museums in the United States and Europe. We are proud to have his work as part of Tom of Finland Foundation’s permanent collection.

Artist Hall of Fame – Don Bachardy

Bachardy joins previous inductees which include – Tom of Finland, Herb Ritts, Jim French, The Hun, and Pierre et Gilles.

CULTURAL ICON AWARD
FOR ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT AND IMMEASURABLE CONTRIBUTIONS
TO THE ART AND CULTURE OF OUR COMMUNITY

PIERRE DAVIS

Pierre founded Los Angeles based fashion house No Sesso, which means no gender in Italian, which is quite fitting as Pierre’s work dresses and empowers those of every and any identity, particularly people of color and non-binary individuals who might not otherwise have felt at home, or even seen by high fashion and luxury brands.

Recently making history as the first openly trans designer to have a show during New York fashion week, Pierre is taking her place as a cultural icon.

Cultural Icon – Pierre Davis

Davis joins previous winners which include – John Waters, Peter Berlin, Camille Paglia, and Ivy Bottini.

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
FOR ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT AND PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT

DANNY FUENTES

Danny is the accidental gallerist, opening his gallery space – Lethal Amounts in 2013 as a place to showcase his T-shirts – and it has expanded from there, recently hosting the Community Guidelines show, which we are fortunate to be able to highlight some of those works during the Tom of Finland Art and Culture Festival this weekend – all of which were censored on social media, fitting quite perfectly with this year’s focus.

From creating an iconic image, “LA in safety pins,” and making T-shirts, to fighting to protect his brand from pirating by others, Danny has certainly achieved quite a lot – and he is ready to still so much more. Tom of Finland Foundation is excited to be co producing the upcoming Pandrogeny I&II exhibition with Lethal Amounts and Danny.

Achievement Award – Danny Fuentes

Fuentes joins previous winners which include – Rubén Esparza and Slava Mogutin

INSPIRATION AWARD
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

CHRISTOPHER HARRITY

Christopher has been a pioneer in the LGBT community for the past 40 years. He is an author, art director and creative soul. He currently serves as the Manager of Online Production for Here Media, parent company to The Advocate and Out; where he enjoys assembling online features on artists and photographers; and you can often find him poring over the moldering archives of the magazines.

Dan Szuhay (L.) accepting for Inspiration

Harrity joins previous winners which include – Carrington Galen and Jon Wright

Tom of Finland Foundation is honored to have the opportunity to recognize these influential individuals who have, and continue to shape the world in which we live. Thank you for your tireless work to make and support art, and for challenging the status quo. We look forward to seeing what great things you accomplish next.

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Published: 7th October 2019

Categorised in: For the Record, Friends of Tom