Evocation work of gay icon Tom of Finland goes on show in Liverpool
Sep 17 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post
THE evocative work of gay icon, acclaimed artist Tom of Finland, is go on show in Liverpool. His work, sketches and paintings of overly masculine men, is now equally revered by lovers of fine art as it is by the gay community.
His techniques, whether pencil sketches, painting or pen and ink, are renowned as expert. Equally, the impact and influence of his work can be seen in a myriad of pop culture examples, from Freddie Mercury to Jean Paul Gaultier.
The exhibition is a retrospec-tive of 88 drawings and paintings, to mark what would have been the artist’s 88th birthday year.
Touko Laaksonen, aka Tom, was born in Finland in 1920 and died in 1991. Although his work was at first subversive, hidden in “straight” publications, it came to redefine notions of gay culture.
Durk Dehner, of the Tom of Fin-land Foundation, which is loaning the exhibition (it has toured Eu-rope), said: “He drew because he loved it, but he wanted to get the message across in his work, that when men were with each other in a relationship it was really some-thing positive, happy, strong and masculine.
“At that time, homosexuality was looked down on, and there was no positive self-esteem. The reason the masculinity aspect was so important, was it was something homosexuals were being denied.”
Indeed, the artist said himself that gay men “could be as hand-some, strong and masculine as any other men”.
Mr Dehner said: “He brought back into society the ability for people to appreciate the male form – something that is not admired like the female form is. His influ-ence was so prevalent, it trans-cended to become popular culture.
“Through such figures as Freddie Mercury and Rob Halford of Judas Priest, into fashion and Gaultier and photography like that of Bruce Weber, his work is re-expressed.”
TheRetrospective can be seen at the Novas centre, as part of the Bi-ennal and Homotopia programmes from Saturday until November 30, Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm.
The exhibition contains some explicit material.
Share
