SUMMERTIME!

Sunday, June 3rd, 1-4pm.

RSVP ASAP

Miguel Angel Reyes
323.782.0573

If you have RSVP’d and must cancel,
please call Miguel, as well.

NUDE LIFE DRAWING

Spinning the tunes: 
DJ RocketManLA

TOM House
Echo Park

© Nadine Hutton

Sculpture by RAE DESIGN.

pixel adventures with an iphone

STOCKHOLM.

Untitled (1 of 6 from ”Men of the Forest” series), 1957, © Tom of Finland Foundation

I slutet av juni kommer en stor del av den Tom of Finland-utställning som förra året visades i Åbo,  till Kulturhuset i Stockholm. Med ett stort

bidrag från olika finska institutioner, ett enormt engagemang från Gary Everett som curator från Homotopia i Liverpool har till slut en utställning med ett bra urval av Tom of Finlands verk kunnat sys ihop på Kulturhuset i Stockholm.
En stor del av de verk som visades under “Tom kommer hem”-utställningen i Åbo förra året kommer att finnas med i Stockholm och det hela blir till en manifestation av det starka band som fanns mellan Touko Laaksonen och Sverige.

Ett band som fanns på det personliga planet men som också kom till uttryck genom de många fina verk som konstnären skapade direkt för SLM-Stockholm.
Det var också här i Sverige, liksom i Danmark, som hans bilder och inte minst seriealbum fick en kommersiell spridning. Efter att ha levererat bilder till amerikanska male physic-tidningar, tog Axel och Eigil Axgils i Danmark och Revolt Press i Åseda, som drevs av Michael Holm och Geurt Staal, tag i utgivningen av Toms arbeten.

Tom poserar i sin nya motorcykeljacka från California Highway Patrol som han just hade fått från sina kompisar där i Los Angeles. Photo by Philip Stuart

När Tom of Finland Foundation, med eldsjälen Durk Dehner på 80-talet började samla in Touko Laaksonens arbeten kom en stor del av samlingen att bestå av just gåvor från Revolt Press.
Flera av dessa hittar nu tillbaks till Sverige för att visas på Homotopias och ToF Foundations utställning.
samband med Stockholm Pride i slutet av juli och början av augusti planeras ett antal seminarier kring Tom of Finlands verksamhet på Kulturhuset som även i år skrudas om till ett Pride House.

In late June, a large part of the Tom of Finland exhibition that was shown last year in Turku, comes to Kulturhuset in Stockholm. Much of the work that was shown during the “Tom comes home” exhibition in Turku last year will be featured in Stockholm and you will see a manifestation of the strong ties that existed between Touko Laaksonen and Sweden.

Tom of Finland kommer till Sverige

Jon Voss

Mr. IML 2012 – Woody Woodruff, Mr. Michigan Leather 2012!

First Runner up: A.C. Demidont Mr. Eagle New York 2012

Second Runner up: Kevin Jordan Mr. DC Eagle 2012

International Mr. Bootblack 2012 Winner: Nick Elliot from Portland, Oregon

Helsinki

Remember the Tom of Finland El Camino that was sent in by a reader? Well, it turns out that it resides at the Tom of Finland Foundation in Echo Park. The Foundation serves as a permanent museum housing Tom’s works and promotes artists that share Tom’s dream of creating images of unparalleled masculine beauty.

So it is no surprise that star photographer Jeremy Lucido snapped a beautiful man in front of the car – in a perfect homage to Tom’s sexually charged work.

SEE MORE OF THE PHOTO SHOOT

For those of you that might not know, Mr. Lucido is one of L.A.’s preimentent artist/ photographers.

THE VEHICLIST

Before there was Gucci or Gaultier, there was Tom of Finland.

TOM OF FINLAND (Finnish, 1920 – 1991), Untitled, 1977, Graphite on paper, ToFF #77.25, © 1977 Tom of Finland Foundation

Tom’s influence on the fashion industry began around 1950. In a case of art-imitating-life-imitating-art, Tom drew his leathermen in outfits reminiscent of World War II military uniforms, but he rendered the clothing both tighter and sexier, tailoring it to his own specifications. Leather-clad bikers of the period, gay and straight, subsequently viewed the images and had their own gear customized to emulate the artist’s specifications.

TOM OF FINLAND (Finnish, 1920 – 1991), Untitled, 1961, Pen & ink and watercolor on paper, ToFF #61.26, © 1961 Tom of Finland Foundation

In the 60s Tom was commissioned by a swimsuit company, requesting that he draw his men wearing their designs. Naturally, Tom filled their baskets to overflowing and made the men look as sexy as hell. From sailors to soldiers, workmen to businessmen, bikers to beachboys, Tom demonstrated that men had sex appeal in almost any mode of fashion–if the fit was right.

Tom was influenced by fashion design all the way back to his postwar studies at the Art Academy in Helsinki, gradually evolving his instinct for making the clothes fit the man. In the fields of photography and fashion, numerous artists have acknowledged Tom’s influence in forming their style, aesthetic, and viewpoint of men. Iconic photographer/filmmaker Bruce Weber noted his debt to Tom in an essay that introduces Volume III of the Foundation’s Tom of Finland Retrospective, and Tom’s influence is clearly visible in the cutting-edge designs of contemporary fashionistas John Bartlett, Gucci’s Tom Ford, and the aforementioned Jean-Paul Gaultier, to name only the most obvious.

You can find the artist on FaceBook

MICHAEL MUT GALLERY 

In the 1940s, when Homosexuality was illegal and considered to be a mental illness, Tom of Finland (Touko Laaksonen, 1920-1991) began drawing pictures of men embracing their sexuality fully and passionately, without fear or remorse.

Tom altered the way Gay men thought of themselves. He also changed the way in which non-Gay people thought about male Homosexuals. —Edward Lucie-Smith

We are seeing a return to the less enlightened parameters of the past that neutralize our unique Homosexual perspective. Censorship is rampant. Tom of Finland Foundation’s objective is to continue to resist and abate such trends. This is the very purpose of the Foundation. 

The Bush recession has been devastating for artists and nonprofits alike. To date, funding for our important work has come from individuals like you; your memberships and donations are vital to Tom’s Foundation.

The Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Educational Archive, so donations are deductible to the extent allowed by law.

We invite you to visit our website
to make convenient credit card payments. 

Donations —|— Memberships —|— Bequests