Come and Celebrate Who We Are As a People Expressed Through the Visual Arts

Tom of Finland Foundation produces an Art Fair each year in West Hollywood – Los Angeles.

This is the coming together of 50 artists from around the world to share with each other and to present their latest creations of art to the public.

It is one of the most positive,
life-affirming experiences in which one can partake,
from both the artist’s and public’s
point of view.

ARTIST RESERVATION PAGE

CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD
Appreciates the Significance
of Our Art and Our Culture

Thank You
 to Them for

 Co-sponsoring the
EROTIC ART FAIR WEEKEND

28^th – 30^th September, 2012
Fiesta Hall | Plummer Park
7377 Santa Monica Boulevard

Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF) has always relied – almost exclusively – on Members’ contributions to underwrite our programs. Not surprisingly, grants are still difficult to obtain due to the controversial content of the artwork we protect, preserve and promote.

As a community, we must preserve our distinct identity and make it available to future generations. 

TOM OF FINLAND (Finnish, 1920 – 1991), Untitled, 1976, Graphite on paper, ToFF #76.21, © 1976 Tom of Finland Foundation

The erotic arts are a very empowering vehicle to use in communicating who we are and where we have traveled in our lives.  We can give others an understanding of how important the sexual revolution was and reveal to them the vast cultural legacy that is theirs. Maintaining this legacy comes with a price: Careful storage, maintenance and accessibility, transportation and insurance for outside exhibitions all add up to significant expenses. Our library and archive unfortunately do not thrive on neglect – they need constant feeding to remain a dynamic part of today’s society.

The Foundation has traveled far – and we know where we want to go. Join us so that our emerging artists and Gay youth will have access to our nurturing presence and resources. We are a treasure chest of amazing masterpieces that are a homage to our sexuality and culture.  It is imperative we continue to safeguard the attitudes and institutions that create the environment where we all flourish and life is a visual banquet of creativity and beauty.

Join us today and continue to care for an institution that stands strong, proud, and free. 

DONATE – JOIN OR RENEW MEMBERSHIP – GIVE

TOM OF FINLAND (Finnish, 1920 – 1991), Untitled (Detail), 1978, Marker on paper, Tom of Finland Foundation Permanent Collection #78.59, © 1978 Tom of Finland Foundation

Strap on your happy-hats, because the BIGGEST, best Tom of Finland Erotic Art Fair Weekend is coming your way on the 28th, 29th and 30th of September, 2012, and this year we are putting the EROTIC back into the Weekend.

Along with finding a venue that allows for alcohol (that’s a big cha-ching when it comes to art sales) our life figure drawing workshops will once again feature ALL the flesh that turned TOM intercontinental!

But wait! You say you want more, more, more?!?!

As an added 10 and 1/2 inch bonus, our good buddies Tom and David of Ass-Bust fame (and the fine proprietors of Studio Servitu), are teaming up to put on TOM’s CLUB – a  big, throbbing private, play party intended to inspire action in the deepest depths of your inner artists.

You can join or renew your ToFF Membership now, before the event, or at the door.

Details to follow…

Sunday, July 29, 2012
4:00pm ‐ 7:00pm

Enjoy the BRAVO Top Chef challenge,
delicious tasting stations from incredible
Los Angeles high-end restaurants and caterers,
entertainment,
and an amazing silent auction.

TOM OF FINLAND (Finnish, 1920 – 1991), “Perfection”, 1990, Limited edition lithograph, Numbered and signed 19.00” x 13.50”, © 1990 Tom of Finland Foundation

 CELEBRITIES, SPECIAL GUESTS & DJ

All funds raised at GLAAD Hancock Park go to GLAAD’s
work to amplify the voices of the LGBT community
by empowering real people to share their stories,
holding the media accountable for the words and images they present,
and training grassroots organizations to communicate effectively.

TICKETS | RSVP

Carl Dove, S. R. Sharp

PHOTO: JayPG Photography

L. Tom of Finland Foundation @ LA PRIDE’s Erotic City
with Hector Silva and Tom Pardoe

R. Tom of Finland Foundation’s
annual TOM’s Bar at the Faultline
with Alexsander Freitas and
Volker Morlock 

The Leather Journal

Jeremy Lucido wanted us to have this handsome work in our collection.

TRAVIS DE JONK, “Leather Carousel”, 2009, Photograph, Signed and dated

Photographers Travis de Jonk and Ross Brownsdon are the creative duo behind the Bad Behaviour photography studio. The two Melbourne based artists have been working independently and collaboratively since 2003, creating editorial and fashion editorial images for numerous publications, as well as work for exhibition.

As well as being selected as one of the top 3 finalists in the Ballarat International Foto Biennale in 2009, these award winning photographers have garnered themselves the Award for Artistic Excellence from Melbourne Leather Pride 2009, and are 3 time winners of the prestegious Laird Art Prize.

The duo took out the major photography category of the Men on Men Art Competition, first in 2003, then again in 2007 and 2008. De Jonk and Brownsdon were invited to participate in the infamous annual Dirty Show in Detroit, Michigan in 2008 and 2009 in Los Angeles.

“Our work was a homage to Tom, with a clear reference to his infamous biker image.”

Bad Behaviour Publishing

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.

Since 1984, Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF)
has been a driving force – some would say
the driving force – in protecting, preserving,
and promoting the world’s erotic art. The 
impetus for this came from our founder, the
artist Tom of Finland , who felt that,
whatever one’s gender or sexual
orientation, erotic art was
a source of beauty and pleasure.

TOM OF FINLAND (Finnish, 1920 – 1991)
Perfection, 1990, Pastel on paper, 19.50” x 14.00”
ToFF #90.08, © 1990 Tom of Finland Foundation

As time goes on, Tom’s artistry is becoming more widely recognized: his “dirty pictures,” as he termed them, now hang in major museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kiasma (Finland’s National Gallery) and  The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

But we have to face facts. Even though the Foundation is a tax-exempt Educational Archive, the nature of our work – and the work we try to preserve – makes it highly unlikely that we will ever be eligible for the large grants which governments, corporations, and philanthropies bestow upon arts organizations.

Which is where you come in. If you believe erotic art is a worthwhile, joyous thing, worthy of protection… if you believe that trailblazers such as Tom of Finland – whose work influenced generations of Gay men to re-imagine themselves – deserve to be remembered and honored, no matter the vagaries of politics… and if you believe our culture is richer because of artists who may not always achieve mainstream recognition… then help us.

If you are not already a member of the Foundation, please join. Membership levels range from $25 Artist, up to $2,500 Lifetime Membership. Our Members, who live all over the world, are the heart of ToFF.

If you can contribute to our Capital Campaign, please do, either by a cash gift, or one of appreciated securities. Your gift is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and will help the Foundation acquire and renovate our headquarters, and achieve a sound physical footing.

When you prepare your will, please remember us with a bequest, and with at least a portion of your art collection. So many times, collectors assume their heirs will treasure their collections as they do – and so many times, precious works of art are consigned to oblivion because of the prejudices or ignorance of those heirs. If you leave your art to the Foundation, you can be sure it will live on after you and future generations will acknowledge your altruism.

For questions and detailed information on
membership, the Capital Campaign, and bequests,
please write us at Administration@TomOfFinlandFoundation.org
 or call 213.250.1685

We thank you for helping us in our mission to
protect, preserve, and promote erotic art.

TOM House
1421 Laveta Terrace
Los Angeles, California 90026