23rd February 2015 
MODELS: Barry (L.) AND a Hot Surprise (R.)
Each month the Foundation offers a friendly and positive environment to practice your skills.
Sunday, 1-4p
Spinning the tunes: DJ RocketManLA, with over 100,000 songs!
Refreshments.
$25 suggested donation at the door.
Scholarship funds available.
Coordinator: Miguel Angel Reyes
Reservations Required
TOM House
Echo Park
25th February 2015 
TOM OF FINLAND (Touko Laaksonen, Finnish, 1920 – 1991), Portrait of Robert Mapplethorpe , 1979, Pen and ink on paper, 21.25” x 28.00”, © 1979 Tom of Finland Foundation
The American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (1946–1989) lived a life of passion in the New York underground and rock scenes in the 1970s and ‘80s. That passion also made its way into his art.
Consisting of more than 250 works, the retrospective exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma offers a broad overview of the key periods of Mapplethorpe’s career. In their aspiration for perfection, Mapplethorpe’s pictures blend beauty and eroticism with pain, pleasure and death. Mapplethorpe also photographed his celebrity friends such as Patti Smith, Andy Warhol and Richard Gere. Although solidly anchored in their time, his photographs are also universal and topical even today.
Arriving from Paris to Helsinki, the high-profile exhibition is a unique opportunity to learn about the art and life of one of the most important photographic artists of our time. The exhibition is curated by Jérôme Neutres from Paris with Director Pirkko Siitari and Chief Curator Marja Sakari from Kiasma.
Runs through 13th September, 2015
24th February 2015 
Image Credit: IAEA / Flickr
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö has signed into law a bill that brings marriage equality to his country.
The move puts Finland in line with its Scandinavian neighbors — all of whom have equal marriage laws. Finland, known for its excellent education system and Tom of Finland’s incredible gay art (incredibly NSFW), lagged behind Norway and Sweden — which legalized equal marriage in 2009 — and Denmark, which introduced same-sex marriage in 2012.
The bill itself has made history, not only for allowing same-sex marriage, but for being the first publicly-backed piece of legislation to make it into law. Finnish citizens can request that parliament review proposals for bills with sufficient public support — 50,000 signatures in support, and lawmakers are obliged to review it. The same-sex marriage bill received 167,000 signatures, or three percent of Finland’s total population.
“It’s incredible,” Aija Salo, secretary-general of the LGBTI group National Seta told Gay Star News. “We are, of course, extremely happy with this result. Not only because of the changes of the Marriage Act itself, but because this carries a huge symbolic value.”
However, it’s those changes to the Marriage Act that have led to a lengthy delay in the law taking effect — Finland’s same-sex couples won’t be able to legally wed until March 1, 2017. Salo claims that the delay was a political move, designed to ensure the bill gained sufficient support from politicians and secure its passage through parliament.
Once it reached the desk of President Niinistö, however, its success was assured. He addressed parliament in December in support of the legislation, telling lawmakers, “Finland should strive to become a society where discrimination doesn’t exist, human rights are respected and two adults can marry regardless of their sexual orientation.”
Two years from now, they can.
23rd February 2015
22nd February 2015
19th February 2015 
San Diego brand Rufskin, maker of activewear for men, has teamed up with the L.A.-based Tom of Finland Foundation for a 15-piece collection of athletic apparel featuring those distinctive and homoerotic designs. Angelenos are treated to a special launch party at the Tom of Finland Foundation’s Echo Park space, where you will see the new collection up close and personal. rufskin.com
19th February 2015 
TOM OF FINLAND
Untitled, 1947, Gouache on paper, 11 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches (28.7 x 20.8 cm), © 1947 Tom of Finland Foundation
Cock, cock and more cock. Proud, throbbing, tumescent members wherever you look. Just thought we’d better let you know what to expect at this exhibition, although if you’re familiar with the work of Touko Laaksonen (aka Tom of Finland) it won’t come as too much of a shock. Of course, these days gay art is everywhere and (one would hope) not that shocking at all, but the show at David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles is concerned with the artist’s early work from the period 1944-1972, at a time when such material was revolutionary and required semi-illicit distribution.
TOM OF FINLAND
Untitled, 1970, Graphite on paper, 8 3/4 x 6 3/4 inches (22.2 x 17.1 cm), © 1970 Tom of Finland Foundation
Laaksonen’s portrayals of homoerotic encounters certainly don’t hide their light under a bushel; his men are muscular exhibitionists, unabashed and not given — it seems — to any sort of performance anxiety. In fact, Laaksonen’s figures challenged the prevailing stereotypes of the time of gay men as effete and sickly; his 1947 gouache work of a strongly-built, leather-clad chap in strident pose pleasuring a friend is one such example of this, as well as showcasing the artist’s delicate fashion-illustration style. Graphite drawings, inked storyboards and gouache works, selected with the input of the Tom of Finland Foundation, are on display in Early Work 1944 – 1972 until 7 March.
WORDS BY Rob Wilkes; Executive Editor
18th February 2015 
The new range of athletic apparel heavily features Tom of Finland’s homoerotic designs
First you could get his art on stamps, then on your bed linen, and now you can get Tom of Finland designs all over your body thanks to a new collection from Rufskin.
The San Diego-based designer teamed up with the Tom of Finland Foundation for a new 15-piece collection of athletic apparel featuring the distinctive artwork and designs of the homoerotic Finnish artist.
Head designer Hubert Pouches explained that his aim with the collection was to pay homage to the artist’s unique characterization of masculinity, which was itself an inspiration for Rufskin’s inception:
My goal when I was asked to collaborate with such an iconic name was to showcase the incredible work of an artist who insistently pushed the boundaries of art and sex and translating it into an ‘athletic’ wardrobe, which is today fully part of our daily routine.
The new collection will be available from Rufskin’s website and their boutiques in San Diego, New York, Miami and Amsterdam. Check out a few of our favorite pieces from the collection.
There’ll also be a special launch event at the Tom of Finland Foundation right here in L.A.
17th February 2015 
TOM OF FINLAND (Touko Laaksonen, Finnish, 1920 – 1991), Untitled (From Kake vol. 06 “Threesome”), 1970, Ink on paper, ToFF Permanent Collection, © 1970 Tom of Finland Foundation
17th February 2015 
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