Tom of Finland’s Queer Artistic Legacy in Helsinki

Tom of Finland‘s drawings of joyous gay men will be on display throughout Pride month.

The Finnish artist’s most extensive museum exhibition, Bold Journey (28 April–29 October 2023), opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki in spring and continues through 29 October 2023.

The exhibition tells the story of Tom of Finland’s life and showcases his skillful pencil-on-paper drawings of macho male characters such as sailors, lifeguards, cowboys, and policemen.

These beautiful, confident gay men exude vivacity. Their easy, open eroticism envisioned a better world for those closeted by the world’s prejudice and contempt.

Speaking to Ocula Magazine ahead of the show, Kiasma director Leevi Haapala said, Tom of Finland became ‘a key figure in the history of non-normative identities in Finland, the Nordic countries, and the West at large. But it was not until the early 1990s that he gained recognition, both in Finland and elsewhere, explicitly as an artist rather than just a pornographic illustrator.’

‘Over the years, images of private pleasure and desire have become common currency,’ he said.

Coinciding with the exhibition, The Tom of Finland Foundation staged The Alltogether Clubhouse (21–25 June 2023), a presentation of artworks from the Tom of Finland permanent collection in dialogue with work by other LGBTQIA+ artists. Celebrating the history of queer culture in New York, the exhibition took place on the route of the New York Pride 2023 march.

Main image: Exhibition view: Tom of Finland, Bold Journey, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki (28 April–29 October 2023). Courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki. Photo: Petri Virtanen.