by Anthony Glassman

The Cleveland Leather Annual Weekend board announced on June 21 that April’s 11th annual CLAW festivities raised over $55,000 to be donated to 17 nonprofit organizations.

According to treasurer Donn Wolfe, half of that money will go to the eight northeast Ohio organizations on the list, the other half will go to groups further afield, ranging from local to international organizations. The donation to the CLAW Endowment, which ensures that charitable giving would continue should CLAW cease to be held, is not counted in that total.

Wolfe noted that “$55,000 is $20,000 more than we gave last year, and it’s the most we’ve ever given.” It is the first year that the Tom of Finland Foundation has received a CLAW donation. In total, CLAW and its related CLAW Nation events have donated $391,697 as of June 22.

Next year’s CLAW 12 will again be hosted by the Hilton Garden Inn from April 25 to 28.

CLAW donates a record $55,000 to 17 groups

TOM OF FINLAND (Finnish, 1920 – 1991), Untitled (Sketch), c. 1962, Graphite on paper, 8.25” x 5.81”, Tom of Finland Foundation Permanent Collection #0083, © 1962 Tom of Finland Foundation

KIITOS PALJON to everyone who helped to make Tom of Finland his very own spot in the Helsinki Pride parade!

TOM deserves to be honored and celebrated EVERY year in ALL Pride marches, but especially in his homeland. The diversity of the TOM group showed how many Finns he has affected, and also the progress that has been made since his passing in ‘91. His legacy is something ALL Finns should take pride in. There can´t be too many people, too many signs, or too much history being shared about him. Every year TOM will have a BIGGER and BETTER presence as it should be!

2012 Helsinki Pride parade assembling at Senate Square.

Gary and ToFF Volunteer Josh Carrillo deacidifying Tom’s childhood drawings at TOM House.

We are very pleased to announce that we have received a grant to help cover the cost of supplies and materials from the Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend (CLAW). Our heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone on the grants committee for recognizing Tom’s legacy and for acknowledging Tom of Finland Foudation’s dedication to protecting, preserving and promoting erotic art around the world. We also want to extend our warmest regards to Gary Fledgemaker for his meticulous attention to detail when approaching this laborious and time consuming task.

The funds requested will be used primarily for the C L A W / Tom of Finland Restoration and Preservation Project, a time sensitive endeavor through which professional conservator Gerald H. Fledgemaker will begin the meticulous and time consuming process of bleaching, deacidifying and or transferring Tom’s private collection of fascinating reference materials from corrosive and corroding standard bond typing paper to acid-free archival paper, protected in costly polyester sleeves. For many years, visitors to the Foundation’s archive and offices at TOM House, were treated to a rare glimpse at the many binders containing images clipped from drawings, personal photos, newspapers, magazines, advertisements and vintage pornography by Touko Laaksonen (Tom of Finland), who arranged and sometimes augmented these photos to be used as the artistic inspirations for some of the most widely recognized erotic artwork ever made.

Recently, college interns from California Institute for the Arts proposed that these works were more than simple reference materials, and are, in fact actual hand-made erotic collages worthy of exhibition in their own right. Together with the Foundation, renowned fetish photographer and gallerist Rick Castro launched the first exhibition, Public & Private, of these materials, to wide acclaim. Not only will preserving these works help us continue our efforts to preserve Tom’s legacy, they afford us the opportunity to show future generations how the most influential erotic artist of our time created the works that changed the way Gay men thought of themselves and the way the world at large perceived of Gay men.

After almost a decade away, Tom of Finland Foundation returned to Chicago at the end of May for Mister International Leather, and what a fantastic event it was! Jon Krongaard did an amazing job at organizing the massive celebration of Gay Men’s Culture. Despite the LGBT Assimilation Cult, we are still here - Proud, Brave, and Strong!

ToFF at Leather Vendor Market, 2012.

Bob Graves worked tirelessly to build a brilliant Leather Market and we all want to thank him very much for the special accommodations he offered the Foundation this year. We also need to acknowledge the dedication and support of pan-national crew of hot and helpful Volunteers: Lance, Michael, Angel, Craig, Jack and David. Without their help, we would not have been able to enjoy the party going on all around us.

We also want to send out a B I G congratulations to Mr. IML 2013 Woody Woodfuff who has been given a limited edition, Tom of Finland, fine art print from the Foundation as our new champion of the right to freedom of expression. Like all of TOM’s Men, he is a standard by which we can all aspire.

We look forward to seeing everyone at International Mr. Leather 2013!

ANTEBELLUM

Tom of Finland-utställning öppnades på Kulturhuset.

STOCKHOLM.

Mika, Orjan, Martin and Peter in front of the poster that TOM drew for SLM and later used for their Baltic Battle poster in 1994. Photo: Jonas Norén

Efter att i ett år ha visats i Åbo under Kulturhuvudstadsåret 2011 kom utställningen så till Stockholm och det Kulturhus som även i år blir Pride House.När Kulturhuset på onsdagskvällen bjöd till vernissage på Tom of Finland-utställningen kom Tom of Finland Foundations Durk Dehner för att medverka. På plats fanns även bland annat Finlands ambassadör Harry Helenius liksom kulturattaché Cita Högnabba och Åbo Kulturhuvudstadsårs Cay Sevón.

Gary Everett från hbt-kulturfestivalen Homotopia i Liverpool fanns på plats efter en intensiv veckas arbete med att få utställningen på plats.Kulturhusets Eric Sjöström, Everett, Sevón och QX förlagschef <bhöll tal och Durk Dehner gjorde så en specialvisning av de bilder som visas av Touko Laaksonensverk som spänner från 1944 fram till 1990, bara ett år innan han avled i Helsingfors.

Just nu pågår ett intensivt arbete för att arkivera och bygga upp samlingar av Tom of Finlands

QX’s Jon Voss was the opening speaker. Foto: Jonas Norén

arbete i Finland. Utställningen pågår under sommaren och över Stockholm Pride och planer finns att hålla ett antal seminarier kring utställningen i samband med festivalen.

At the opening was Tom of Finland Foundation’s cofounder and president, Durk Dehner, Finnish Ambassador Harry Helenius as well as cultural attaché Cita Högnabba, Turku Culture Capital’s Cay Sevón and Gary Everett from LGBT arts festival Homotopia in Liverpool.

Kulturhuset’s Eric Sjostrom, Everett, Sevón and QX Publishing Manager and Durk Dehner had a special viewing of the works by Touko Laaksonen spanning 1944 until 1990, just one year before the artist died in Helsinki.

Currently, there are efforts to archive and build collections of Tom of Finland’s work in Finland. The exhibition runs during the summer and Stockholm Pride. There are plans to hold a series of seminars on the exhibition in conjunction with the festival.

Durk Dehner of Tom of Finland Foundation and Eric Sjostrom, Kulturhuset’s artistic director. Photo: Jonas Norén

Cay Sevón and curator Gary Everett from Homotopia in Liverpool. Photo: Jonas Norén

Tom of Finland-utställning öppnades på Kulturhuset

Great opening for the Tom of Finland exhibition. The Finnish Ambassador said he was immensely proud of TOM.  This is the first time ToFF’s permanent collection has been seen in Sweden. Thanks to all of the funders, partners, friends and supporters for making this special event happen.

KULTURHUSET – TOM OF FINLAND - 28 JUN–19 AUG

MODELS: Marcos & Chris

LIFE DRAWING WORKSHOP

Sunday, July 8th, 1-4 pm

Nude Figure Drawing

RSVP ASAP
Miguel Angel Reyes
323.782.0573

DJ – Rocket Man

TOM House
Echo Park

MSC Finland – TOM’s Club is a fetish club for leather, rubber and biker guys. Club nights with dresscode are held once a month.

ECMC card gives you free entry to MSC club nights and nightclub DTM and also reductions in Club K23. It also includes discounts in Sauna Vogue, U.S. Video and Varusteleka.

MSC is a member of European Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs.

MSC FINLAND – TOM’S CLUB

Exhibiting the Works of John Palatinus

Palatinus was noted for his use of light and shadow
to highlight the topography of the male physique.

John Palatinus is one of the pioneering early physique photographers of the 1950s. Along with Lon of New York, Bruce of Los Angeles, and Bob Mizer of Athletic Model Guild he helped create a whole new genre of male photography.

John Palatinus now lives in Palm Springs, California and may be one of the last living photographers from the 1950′s golden era of physique photography.

June 28 - July 1, 2012
Klub M25
25 Minska St, Warsaw, Masovia, Poland

July 5 – 14, 2012
Gallerie Die Kunstagentin
Maastrichterstr. 26, Cologne, Germany

JOHN PALATINUS

TOM OF FINLAND (Finnish, 1920 – 1991), Untitled, 1979, Graphite on paper, ToFF #79.15, © 1979 Tom of Finland Foundation

The success from the Turku 2011 European Capital of Culture is coming to Stockholm! Tom of Finland exhbition will be seen in Kulturhuset in Stockholm 28 June – 19 August 2012.

For 40 years, the artist Tom of Finland has been a major Gay icon. His drawings have inspired the fantasies of generations of homosexual men. Today he is regarded as the most influential creator of Gay pornographic images, and is represented in institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 2009, he was featured in the Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennial. He died in 1991. 

This exhibition is produced by Kulturhuset in association with Homotopia, Liverpool, and Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles.

Turku 2011 Foundation