Tom of Finland (Touko Laaksonen, Finnish; b. May 8, 1920, d. November 7, 1991) has long been recognized as one of the twentieth century’s great visual innovators. A masterful draftsman, Tom produced an expressive body of work that depicts masculine, empowered gay men fully enjoying their sexuality, engulfed in intimate moments of unabashed joy and pleasure. This exhibition showcases the artist’s diverse material approaches to his meticulous figurations—including sharp pen and marker linework, ink washes, and delicate pencil shading—that exemplify the boldness of his vision and the virtuoso qualities of his hand. With their skillful observation of light and classical composition, and their images of muscular men engaged in complex motions, the drawings reveal formal concerns that call to mind the work of Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Laaksonen's illustrations of leathermen, as exemplified by Kake, significantly influenced the aesthetics of the gay leather subculture. [6] Edward Lucie-Smith has noted that depictions of masculine gay men by Laaksonen "altered the way gay men think about themselves" and "began to elaborate an identity type, with dress and physical attributes" that countered stereotypes of gay men as weak and effeminate. [6] While the archetype of the masculine leatherman biker was well established in both gay and straight culture by the time of Kake's creation (notably in the 1953 film The Wild One starring Marlon Brando, which Laaksonen cites as a direct influence on his artwork), [5] F. Valentine Hooven III argues that "the leatherman as drawn by Tom of Finland" is "the gold standard, at least within the gay community." [1] The meaningful, the beautiful, the big, the small, the weird, the essential. Books remind us of what we love and what’s important. What we have been, what we are and what we can become. DailyArt Magazine needs your support. Every contribution, however big or small, is very valuable for our future. Thanks to it, we will be able to sustain and grow the Magazine. Thank you for your help! Arell, Berndt; Mustola, Kati (2006). Tom of Finland: Ennennäkemätöntä – Unforeseen. Like. ISBN 952-471-843-X.

Kake (comics) - Wikipedia

One simply cannot praise Homer’s peerless oeuvre enough. We all read Iliad and Odyssey several times, and surely, a considerable amount of us has...a b c d e Beefcake (1999); Thom Fitzgerald, writer, director, co-producer; Shandi Mitchell, co-producer; Alliance Independent Films. Miller, Jason (26 March 2013). "3 Questions with Wes Hurley |". Central-cinema.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016 . Retrieved 10 December 2016.

Tom of Finland | Artnet Tom of Finland | Artnet

Tom of Finland: The Comic Collection. Vol. 1–5. Dian Hanson, ed. London: Taschen, 2005. ISBN 978-3-8228-3849-5 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. A gay leatherman distinguished by his hypermasculine physical characteristics and his frequent sexual encounters, Kake appears as the title character of a 26-issue erotic comic book series published by Laaksonen from 1968 to 1986. During his lifetime and beyond, Laaksonen's work has drawn both admiration and disdain from different quarters of the artistic community. Laaksonen developed a friendship with gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, whose work depicting sado-masochism and fetish iconography was also subject to controversy. [ citation needed] Tom of Finland: The Art of Pleasure. Mischa Ramakers, ed. London: Taschen, 1998, ISBN 3-8228-8598-3

The final Kake comic, Oversexed Office, was published in 1986; [12] after being diagnosed with emphysema in 1988, Laaksonen developed a tremble in his hands that restricted his ability to draw, and he died in 1991. [18] The series has been anthologized several times, notably by the art book publishing house Taschen, which published all issues of the series as The Complete Kake Comics in 2008. [19] The majority of the original artwork for Kake has been recovered by the Tom of Finland Foundation, and is preserved in the organization's archive. [12] List of issues [ edit ] Hooven III, Valentine, Tom of Finland: The Official Life and Work of a Gay Hero. New York: Abrams, 2020, p.224. Waugh, Thomas: Hard to Imagine: Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from Their Beginnings to Stonewall. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-231-09998-3. In 2015, Artists Space presented the exhibition "Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play" in New York City, USA. [38] The exhibition was also presented in Kunsthalle Helsinki in 2016, complemented with additional material such as photos from family albums. [39]

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

Löfström, Jan (1998), "Scandinavian homosexualities: essays on gay and lesbian studies", Journal of homosexuality, Routledge, vol.35, no.3–4, pp.189–206, ISBN 0-7890-0508-5 David Kordansky Gallery is pleased topresentTom of Finland: 100 Years, celebrating the centennial of the artist's birth. Featuring never-before-exhibiteddrawings in pencil and pen and ink, as well as Tom's personal collages, the show will remain on view throughTuesday, May 12, 2020, 8:00 am Pacific Time. Art critics have mixed views about Laaksonen's work. His detailed drawing technique has led to him being described as a "master with a pencil", while in contrast a reviewer for Dutch newspaper Het Parool described his work as "illustrative but without expressivity". [29]New York's Museum of Modern Art has acquired several examples of Laaksonen's artwork for its permanent collection. [35] In 2006, MoMA in New York accepted five Tom of Finland drawings as part of a much larger gift from The Judith Rothschild Foundation. The trustee of The Judith Rothschild Foundation, Harvey S. Shipley Miller, said, "Tom of Finland is one of the five most influential artists of the twentieth century. As an artist he was superb, as an influence he was transcendent." [36] Hudson, of Feature Inc., New York, placed Tom of Finland's work in the collections of Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art and Art Institute of Chicago. His work is also in the public Collections of: The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, USA; Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art; Turku, Finland; University of California Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley (California), USA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA; Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA; and Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles, USA. Hooven, F. Valentine III (2020). Tom of Finland: The Official Life and Work of a Gay Hero. Cernunnos. ISBN 978-2374951331. Nudity started being an important subject in art in ancient Greece. The male body was celebrated at sports competitions or religious festivals, it... Arell & Mustola, p. 31. This followed the naming conventions of the magazine. Other pseudonyms of the time were Bruce of Los Angeles and Spartan of Hollywood, for example.