Laaksonen's drawings of this time "can be seen as consolidating an array of factors, styles and discourses already existing in the 1950s gay subcultures," which may have led to them being widely distributed and popularized within those cultures. By the mid-1970s he was also emphasizing a photorealistic style, making aspects of the drawings appear more photographic. Tom’s art continues to play an important role in promoting self-confidence, positive self-image and openness in the gay community. Both the content and militaristic style of his work was informed by the artist’s time spent serving in the Finnish armed forces, and he originally began creating his erotic drawings for his own entertainment.

Tom of Finland - Pen and Ink 1965 – 1989 - Exhibitions Tom of Finland - Pen and Ink 1965 – 1989 - Exhibitions

Laaksonen was able to publish his more overtly homoerotic work and it changed the context with "new possibilities and conventions for displaying frontal male nudity in magazines and movies.Working for the Tom of Finland Company for several years, I was able to see firsthand not only the breadth and amazing development of Tom’s characters and story lines but also how widely seen the work became — through distribution of Tom’s own publications but, more important, hand to hand and fan to fan. As a frustrated, horny adolescent thinking myself alone in my perverse desires, I reveled in his mind-blowing sex fantasies. The character occasionally also appears in other commonly fetishized uniforms, such as those of a policeman or a mechanic.

Tom of Finland and friends: battle of the beefcakes – in Tom of Finland and friends: battle of the beefcakes – in

I like the comic book format because I can show what is happening between two guys, not just how they look…” the artist wrote; Tom’s use of the comic book gives all of his characters a story, allowing the audience to see the progression of the scene through a beginning, middle and end rather than just viewing an image of two men together. This exhibitionprovides viewers with unique opportunities to observe the scope of Tom’s working methodology. a b Festival Diary: Bad karma and the Big Yin: The Billy Connolly Affair and trouble and strife with The Bay City Rollers. His drawings are in the public collections of Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Art Institute of Chicago; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among many other institutions.It seems absolutely devoid of the Protestant reservedness, darkness, angst and pietism that has otherwise affected the Nordic culture.

Tom of Finland Eight Artists on the Influence of Tom of Finland

When I was the artist in residence there, it says Tom of Finland, so you would expect a bunch of German dudes in leather, but it was a pretty diverse group of people. He explores different scenarios where the story can quickly escalate and even include several more characters, all of them “proud men having happy sex”. This was in contrast to the then-prevailing stereotypes of gay man as an effeminate sissy, as seen in vaudeville and films going back to the first years of the industry. He did not submit his comics for publication until the 1960s; his first published comic The Tattooed Sailor was published in the August 1961 issue of Physique Pictorial, a magazine that was the first outlet to publish his illustrations in 1957. Kake ( / ˈ k ɑː k ɛ/ KAH-keh; Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkɑke]) [1] is a fictional character created by Tom of Finland, the pseudonym of Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen.

Curated in close collaboration with Tom of Finland Foundation, the exhibition opens on March 20 and will be on view through May 1, 2021.