| FIFTH ANNUAL NEW YORK EROTIC
ART FAIR IN MAY
The Tom of Finland Foundation Fifth Annual New
York Erotic Art Fair will be held Friday through Sunday, May
20, 21, and 22, 2005, at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender
Community Center, 208 West 13th Street in Manhattan. Official
Sponsors include The Consulate General of Finland in New York,
HX Magazine, and The Center.
An Artists Reception on Friday evening from 8:00 to 11:00 PM
will mark the official start of the Fair, which will also be
open to the public on Saturday from noon to 6:00 PM, and on
Sunday from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM. On Sunday afternoon at 3:00
PM, to celebrate the Foundation's 20th Anniversary, there will
be a panel discussion on Tom of Finland's impact on culture;
the moderator will be Robert Woodworth of the Center, and panelists
will include Nayland Blake (Chair, International Center of Photography
- Bard College Masters Program in Advanced Photographic Studies);
Durk Dehner (co-founder and director, Tom of Finland Foundation);
David Humphrey (sculptor, painter, Guggenheim and National Endowment
for the Arts Fellow); Michael Kirwan (artist, illustrator, inductee
Erotic Artist Hall of Fame); and Thomas Woodruff (Chair, Illustration
and Cartooning Department, School of Visual Arts).
More than 40 artists from the United States and Europe displayed
and sold their work at the 2004 Fair, and this year's Fair will
be slightly larger. Among the Tom of Finland work to be displayed
will be a rough sketch from 1987, never before seen in public,
which has been designated by the Foundation as the "Image
of the Year." This work is the centerpiece of all Foundation
publicity in 2005, as well as the subject of an online auction
to benefit the Foundation. Also on display will be an original
work by Michael Kirwan, commissioned by the Foundation, to commemorate
the Fair.
In addition to the events at the Center, there will be a Closing
Party at SplashNY on Sunday, which will benefit the Foundation.
During the Friday reception at The Center, Foundation Director
Durk Dehner - who co-created the Foundation in 1984 with Tom
of Finland - will present a work of art to the Center for its
collection. He will also unveil an exhibit highlighting some
of the many artists whose careers the Foundation has boosted
in its twenty years. The Foundation's mission is to preserve,
protect, and promote erotic art.
The Foundation has produced Erotic Art Fairs in Los Angeles
since 1995, and held the first Fair in New York in 2001. The
Fairs provide an opportunity for artists from around the world
to display and sell their work, no matter the gender, sexual
orientation, or medium of expression.
More information about the Fair and the Foundation may be found
online at the Foundation's website at www.TomOfFinlandFoundation.org,
or may be obtained by calling the office at 213.250.1685.
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