NEVER BEFORE SEEN WORKS OF TOM OF FINLAND
DENIZ AKKAYA
Never-before-exhibited early works of homoerotic artist Touko Laaksonen (better known to the world as Tom of Finland? can be seen in a new exhibition titled The Darkroom at Fotografiska in NYC.
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth, Fotografiska in collaboration with Tom of Finland Foundation produced the Darkroom, an exciting study in artist Tom of Finland’s life and work process. The exhibition consists of photographic portraits which served as reference images for his famed homoerotic drawings.
Tom of Finland was a Finnish artist who was well known for his underground erotic drawings of men, which he made from the 1940s until his death in 1991. The drawings — which were illicit for most of his lifetime, as being gay was illegal in Finland until 1971 — also inspired the aesthetic foundation for modern popular gay culture, depicting men in roles that were forbidden at the time in various ways, whether it was serving in the military or having an open relationship.
Tom of Finland is celebrated internationally for his prolific and positive portrayal of confident gay men. His representational subjects are masculine, attractive, endowed with pronounced muscles and genitalia, and often dressed in uniforms or leather gear. His depictions of queer culture thoroughly challenged contemporary society, and solidified his place as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.
Tom grew up in a Finland where homosexuality was punishable by law until 1971 and classified a mental disorder until 1981. Here, he secretly photographed his models as references for his drawings – works that were to become coveted in underground gay culture. With increasing openness in the West, he would later live half the year in Los Angeles where gay freedoms were flourishing, and his art spread across the world.
