Too Laaksonen (1920–1991), the artist better known as Tom of Fland, helped shaped the sexual sir of generatns of gay men. Who knew the erotic potentia
Contents:
- TOM OF FLAND EXHIB CELEBRAT NORDIC UNTRY’S GAY IN
- THERE'S A GAY PORNO STASHED IN YOUR WARDROBE: THE HISTORY BEHD PRI 2020'S BT COLLAB
- TOM OF FLAND: FROM GAY IN TO MASTREAM SENSATN
- TOM OF FLAND EXHIB CELEBRAT NORDIC COUNTRY'S GAY IN
- TOM OF FINLAND – THE OFFICIAL LIFE AND WORK OF A GAY HERO
TOM OF FLAND EXHIB CELEBRAT NORDIC UNTRY’S GAY IN
100 Hero: Tom of Fland. The gay man who created art that helped shape queer inty and sire. * tom of finland gay *
In 2013, the artist’s work was clud a two-person exhibn wh the gay erotic art trailblazer — and, as happens, the origator of Laaksonen’s famo psdonym — Bob Mizer at the Mm of Contemporary Art, Los Angel. Even Laaksonen’s home untry and namake, which homosexualy was crimalized until 1971, has e around to the artist’s importance: In 2014, ma a seri of stamps honorg Tom of Fland, and a succsful 2017 bpic was produced the by Brian Forrt.
In the early 1960s, the pneerg, boundary-phg gay artist Robert Mapplethorpe, acrdg to Patti Smh, disvered Tom of Fland’s work a ed bookstall Tim Square. ”T talked to a wi range of artists about Tom of Fland’s fluence for what would have been his 100th by Anrs Sune Berg Elmgreen & Dragset, Berl-based artist duoTom of Fland’s art is unabashedly gay and celebratory of a subculture and sexual ruals that were nsired perverse when his drawgs first appeared public. And I thk, siarly, perhaps when Tom of Fland was fg this inic style, he really took ownership over his fn of what was to be a homosexual, which was perhaps, at that time, a term that was viewed as weak or rogatory.
Tom of Fland’s ft pencil work and the immediate eroticism are enough to make any young gay boy a quick fan, but after a of lookg at his drawgs, I unrstand that his work transcends pornography and occupi a space of queer spirualy. I me for the giant phall and stayed for the joy of beg a gay person.
THERE'S A GAY PORNO STASHED IN YOUR WARDROBE: THE HISTORY BEHD PRI 2020'S BT COLLAB
Tom of Fland, perhaps the most inic creator of erotic gay art, unrstood his role as a liberator. His imag of men unleashg their ept fantasi have provid an outlet for self-intifitn and tablished a visual inography of eroticism. * tom of finland gay *
Tom’s drawgs are unapologetilly happy and have not a shred of shame them — an credible rary any pictn of homosexualy, even now. Tom had the fortu of spir to celebrate men at play at a time when most of the world nsired gay people to be an abomatn. Tom had such an abundance of radil self-acceptance that his work ntu to impart the spir of self-love onto gay men everywhere.
-based wrer and artistWe kd of take Tom of Fland for granted, bee, let’s be hont, as gay men, do we really need any more imag of super mcular whe dus? Before Tom, the homosexual stereotype was a narrowly limed negative one. Tom of Fland’s art beme an inic part of the gay visual vobulary durg s time.
TOM OF FLAND: FROM GAY IN TO MASTREAM SENSATN
Long inic and even formative for Amerin gay society, Tom's well-endowed and sexually charged imagery is now htg the global mastream. * tom of finland gay *
Homosexualy was illegal Fland until 1971. “Tom of Fland’s bodi are gog to be somethg that really also om the postwar era, the need to bat the ia of effemacy of homosexualy, ” says Dr. The ia of the homosexual before the 1950s was only a highly effemate one.
TOM OF FLAND EXHIB CELEBRAT NORDIC COUNTRY'S GAY IN
HELSINKI (AP) — A new exhibn showg the works of Too Laaksonen, better known by his psdonym Tom of Fland, adds a personal touch to the late Fnish artist whose homoerotic drawgs of mcular men gaed a followg the gay muny om the 1950s. * tom of finland gay *
While some gay men were (and rema) proudly effemate, others wanted to be gay on their own terms, whout havg their inty prcribed to them. In dog so, he created a visual language for gay men that had prevly been publicly unavailable to them, one where s actors were permted to be mascule, happy and sexually domant. “It then creat a siar kd of gatekeepg on the straight male that was hherto enclosed on the gay male.
” It also creat the possibily of straight men aspirg to what Tom of Fland shows as homosexual prentatn. “He creat this proxy gay universe … a gay Olymp.
Tom of Fland had ma his way to the Amerin visual market 1957, wh drawgs and on the ver of Physique Pictorial, a homoerotic magaze that displayed nu bodybuilrs unr the guise of athletic molg to avoid obsceny implitns. The “Tom of Fland” look — boots, leather, mtach, tight jeans — beme vibrant the gay muny and eventually crossed over to the mastream via the artists spired. The gay man who created art that helped shape queer inty and sire.
TOM OF FINLAND – THE OFFICIAL LIFE AND WORK OF A GAY HERO
Tom of Fland (born Tuoko Laaksonen, 1920–1991), was an inic and ground-breakg artist who rose to cult stat the ternatnal queer muny and beyond for his work celebratg the male figure and masculy durg a time when beg homosexual was taboo. “Although he never attend a march or waved a banner at a monstratn, the send half of the 20th century no one did more for the furtherg of gay pri than Tom did,” said F. Valente Hooven, III. * tom of finland gay *
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.
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.
Leather, lt and mcular love: Tom of Fland's sexy sketch were ins of a gay generatn. To this day, his artworks spire the LGBTQ movement. * tom of finland gay *
The masterful renrgs of virile men engrossed acts of homoerotic sire n be approached along several terpretative l—art historil, social, technil—but each of them pots to the revolutnary nature of his project.
A master draftsman, whose passn for both his medium and his subject matter enabled him to bee a powerful cultural force, Tom gave form to an imagative universe that turn helped fuel real-world liberatn movements and enabled gay men to accs their strength new ways. On 8th May, one of the foundg fathers of gay fetish, Tom of Fland, celebrat 101 years sce his birth. HELSINKI (AP) — A new exhibn showg the works of Tom of Fland adds a personal touch to the late Fnish artist whose homoerotic drawgs of mcular men gaed a followg the Gay muny om the 1950s.
Tom of Fland: Directed by Dome Kakoski. Wh Pekka Strang, Smas F. Sargent, Chris Myland, Alf Myreen. Award-wng filmmaker Dome Kakoski brgs to screen the life and work of artist Too Val Laaksonen (aka Tom of Fland), one of the most fluential and celebrated figur of 20th-century gay culture." data-id="ma * tom of finland gay *
Tom’s cheerful, sexually explic works ma an impact the art world at a time when homosexualy was illegal or classified as a disease untri around the world, cludg his native Fland. 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.