'Unashamedly gay': Tom of Fland's bulgg beefke drawgs are unveiled London

Contents:

• TOM OF FLAND’S HYPERMASCULE GAY IMAG ‘THE PLEASURE OF PLAY’
• 'UNASHAMEDLY GAY': TOM OF FLAND'S BULGG BEEFKE DRAWGS UNVEILED LONDON
• THERE'S A GAY PORNO STASHED IN YOUR WARDROBE: THE HISTORY BEHD PRI 2020'S BT COLLAB
• TOM OF FLAND EXHIB CELEBRAT NORDIC COUNTRY'S GAY IN
• 'TOM OF FLAND' GAY IMAG SET FOR BEDROOM AND BATH
• TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’

TOM OF FLAND’S HYPERMASCULE GAY IMAG ‘THE PLEASURE OF PLAY’

In his heroic homoerotic drawgs – starrg hyper-mascule hunks, clad uniforms or leather gear, all bulgg mcl and members – he fearlsly nonted a system that nied eedom, legaly, and basic rights to the gay muny.

Among the photographs are portras of iends and partners – cludg those Tom of Fland and Robert Mapplethorpe took of each other – that were nfed to his home stud and darkroom for years, wh much of the rrponnce between the artist and his subjects stroyed due to the illegaly of homosexualy at the time.

Tom of Fland Permanent Collectn(Image cred: Marko MacPherson)‘Beg aware of what society had nied homosexuals, Tom went about creatg the archetype of mascule homosexuals who participate eely together sex – a cree om Nature herself, says Durk Dehner, print and -founr of the Tom of Fland Foundatn, created 1984.

'UNASHAMEDLY GAY': TOM OF FLAND'S BULGG BEEFKE DRAWGS UNVEILED LONDON

Tom of Fland, perhaps the most inic creator of erotic gay art, unrstood his role as a liberator. From a distance, then, he was keepg pace wh Amerin gay liberatn and cultural shifts.

When he arrived California 1977, was no surprise that he was immediately embraced by a muny who viewed him as paragon of gay pri. The stereotype of a domant and submissive partner assumed of a both a male/female and gay relatnships was not one he subscribed to.

Oppose: another of the garn’s seatg areas hangs a banner by Ts Webster, memoratg an inic drawg by Tom of Fland om a seri pleted 1963(Image cred: Jack Pierson)The hoe is the headquarters of the Tom of Fland Foundatn, an anisatn voted to prervg the legacy of the most fluential homoerotic artist of the 20th century.

THERE'S A GAY PORNO STASHED IN YOUR WARDROBE: THE HISTORY BEHD PRI 2020'S BT COLLAB

The exhibn’s troductory text scribed Tom of Fland as ‘the creator of some of the most inic and readily regnisable imag of post-war homomasculy’ (almost certaly markg that word’s official but the mm).

Acrdg to Sharp, the are ‘the first homoerotic postage stamps the world’. Tled ‘Sealed wh a Secret: Corrponnce of Tom of Fland’, the show m the artist’s trove of letters and photographs to chart his life and Tom’s work first appeared the 1950s, fied the domant image of gay men as sissi, fairi and pansiTom’s fluence extends not only to other erotic artists but also to the velopment of gay culture across the send half of the 20th century.

TOM OF FLAND EXHIB CELEBRAT NORDIC COUNTRY'S GAY IN

His drawgs have spired untls viewers not jt to h the gym or don a biker p but also to image an alternative versn of homosexualy. As Sharp puts , ‘when Tom’s work first appeared the 1950s, fied the domant image of gay men as sissi, fairi and pansi’.

'TOM OF FLAND' GAY IMAG SET FOR BEDROOM AND BATH

Tom’s drawgs offered a ‘homo-mascule’ ial that spoke not only to the sir but also to the personal aspiratns of his viewg dience. The gay man who created art that helped shape queer inty and sire. Tom of Fland is the psdonym of artist Too Laaksonen – an erotic illtrator om of Fland’s work as an artist was stmental shapg 20th-century gay culture – his impact is still beg felt today.

Laaksonen viewed his homosexualy as a non-issue, and wanted to normalise for everyone else his muny at a time when beg gay was lerally a crime.

“In those days, a gay man was ma to feel nothg but shame about his feelgs and his sexualy.

TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’

I wanted my drawgs to unteract that, to show gay men beg happy and posive about who they were…” Tom explaed, before he died 1991 om an emphysema-duced stroke.

”The men drawn by Tom of Fland were pretty much the first sex-posive morn art figur pictg gay men – strappg beefk, wh bulgg mcl, big boots, a visor hat and leather, or a mixture of civilian cloth uniforms – everythg about them is big and unapologetilly 1973, Laaksonen had given up his job advertisg so that he uld vote himself to his art landmark 1962 Supreme Court se MANual Enterpris, Inc. At the vatn of Durk Dehner, a gay bsman, film director and publisher.

” This particular ic documents “the nvergence of two Gay muni an era still grapplg wh the crimalizatn of Homosexual love.