Every few years, the Finnish National Gallery does a survey with the public about their interest in art. Every time, the results suggest that Tom of Finland—whose drawings are a carnival of graphic gay pleasure amongst overmuscled guys with humungous dicks—is the country’s best-known artist.
So on the one hand, it might be shocking that a new exhibition at the National Gallery’s contemporary art museum, Kiasma, features work after work of leathermen and bikers and sailors fucking here, there and everywhere; when Tom of Finland (born Touko Valio Laaksonen) started creating erotic art in the 1950s, it would not only have been illegal, it would have been shameful to look at or own.
But these days, even Finnish people who have little interest in gay culture have to admit that Tom of Finland’s fantasies have had a global impact. He’s a key export and Tom of Finland: Bold Journey, which runs until October 29, 2023, proves it.
“I would like him to be recognized as this beacon of freedom and liberation, a force in the abolition of guilt and shame, this liberating expression of desire and pleasure,” João Laia, chief curator of temporary exhibitions at Kiasma, told Wander+Lust.
Born in 1920, in the coastal town of Kaarina, Touko moved to Helsinki, about 160 kilometres away from home, to attend art school. In the capital, a port city on the Baltic Sea, Touko came into contact with the construction workers, sailors, police officers and uniformed men who fed his sexual imagination.
Touko travelled widely, frequently exploring Copenhagen and Hamburg, which had bigger gay and leather scenes than Helsinki; later in his life, he spent most of his winters in Los Angeles, California, and drew many of his characters and situations from North America. (Kake in Canada, published in 1984, guest stars a lumberjack and a mountie.) Testimony from friends, many of whom are still alive, suggests that there is some autobiography, as well as fiction, in these sexed-up stories. Touko, who died in 1991, was known by his friends to have had a fun sex life and a personal interest in leather and fetish. The Kiasma show is the largest-ever exhibition of his work and includes artifacts like his boots and his first leather jacket.
I asked Laia what was the most surprising thing he learned putting together the show.
Though Tom of Finland is best known for his impossibly sculpted male bodies and penises—that sometimes exceeded the size of the character’s arms—the early work depicted bodies that were more realistic. The work was always changing and the artist used many different techniques to create his images. “The size of everything enhances consistently until the late work,” says Laia. Although there are themes of sado-masochism, bondage and domination, the characters are playful and, in a word, versatile. There is a lighthearted easy-going quality to the sexual escapades. “The exhibit really deconstructed a not-thought-through idea I had about the type of masculinity Tom was portraying,” says Laia. “Looking at the drawings, you realize how sexual roles are totally disrupted and very fluid. This attachment to the vigorous muscled men becomes detached from positions of power.”
In the early years, the books and bootlegged copies were passed around by networks of gay men. Part of their global appeal is the almost total absence of dialogue; the characters communicate primarily through body language—a look, a rub of the bulge in the jeans—just like the language of cruising itself. “The lack of verbal language is a tool for inclusivity in his works,” says Laia.
The show’s opening in April was attended by a party of leathermen and there will be a series of talks, film screenings and other performances over the course of the exhibition, which closes October 29, 2023. The Tom of Finland: Bold Journey show pairs nicely with the other major show at Kiasma, called Dreamy, which explores the idea of a “queer life” through the work of a younger generation of artists. Dreamy closes November 26, 2023.
How Tom of Finland’s sexed-up character Kake might spend a weekend in Helsinki
Kake, of course, knows all the back streets of Helsinki, but would take The Tom of Finland tour as a way to cruise hot visitors. (Remember that Tom/Touko spent a lot of time in Los Angeles, so the foundation which is the guardian of his work, and the home-turned-museum, are both in California. Tours there are scheduled and with a guide only.)
Kake wouldn’t go in the parade of Helsinki Pride, which takes place this year from June 26 to July 7—it’s too hard to have sex on a float. But he’d watch it and cruise his fellow spectators.
MSC Finland–Tom’s Club is part of the European Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs, which are dedicated to gay and bi men with interests in motorcycles, leather, rubber and uniforms. They host regular parties and gear markets, usually at Club X (Mäkelänkatu 54A, Helsinki), a members-only private BDSM club that hosts both queer and non-queer events. Kake would enjoy the sling room and St. Andrew’s cross, but is unlikely to part with his leather cap at the gear market. MSC–Finland also hosts an annual fetish weekend each spring.
Kake would often go to Sauna Vogue (Sturenkatu 27A, Helsinki), Finland’s only gay sauna, where he’d have his own room and staff would let him in for free.
Though he’s been around since the 1940s, Kake likes to keep up with trends, so he might crash a ballroom event from the flamboyantly queer House of Disappointments or an underground party by Club La Persé.
Kake does actually need some recovery time between sex sessions, and contrary to popular belief, he seriously loves camp. So for a beer he’d head over to the cozy and quirky gay pub Fairytale (Helsinginkatu 7, Helsinki). After a few, he’d swing by Hercules (Keskuskatu 8B, third floor) to hear some pop hits and dominate the dance floor.
You might be getting the impression that Kake is a bit of a narcissist, as well as a hedonist, so it shouldn’t surprise you if he took advantage of the Tom of Finland package at Klaus K Hotel (Bulevardi 2-4, Helsinki). With two days’ advance booking, you get a bed made up with Tom of Finland–themed sheets, matching towels in the bathroom and a bottle of Tom of Finland red wine, along with the hotel’s yummy buffet breakfast.
