World of Wonder’s Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato to be honored at Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival

Photo: Mathu Andersen

World of Wonder’s Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato will be honored at the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival 2024, with the theme Art Speaks Through Us.

The two will receive the Cultural Icon Award during the three-day Los Angeles event’s awards ceremony on 1st December. Honorees also include Artist Hall of Fame-winner Holly Johnson and Dedication Award-winner Jim Neuman.

Billed as the world’s largest erotic art fair, the Festival kicks off 29th November at the Hotel Indigo Los Angeles Downtown and will feature more than 30 artists, galleries and vendors.

For the first time, the Festival is being held alongside CLAW’s Leather Thanksgiving celebration. “This year’s Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival is lining up to be uniquely special in that we are teaming up with CLAW to offer the public more diversity in the social activities being held under one big tent at the Hotel Indigo,” Tom of Finland Foundation President & Cofounder Durk Dehner said.

Sponsored by Diesel, the Festival program includes conversations with artists, demonstrations and other activations as well as a sneak peek at the feature-length documentary House of Leather with director Jamison Rockmore.

Started in 1984 to promote the art of Tom of Finland, the Finnish artist known for his hypersexualized imagery of men with bulging muscles clad in leather and fetish gear, the Foundation is housed in a 3,000-square-foot Craftsman house in Echo Park. The home was named an Historic-Cultural Monument by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in 2016.

SEE THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY MARC MALKIN

Published: 27th November 2024

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