Tom of Finland, one of the most famous Finnish artists in the world, is the contemporary art museum Kiasma’s major investment this year.
Especially in the early days, the starting point of Tom of Finland’s art was to excite the viewer, and the artist was also personally enthusiastic about making such pictures. His passions were the fetish culture of small circles and leather.
– One can also think about how perceptions of desire, gender and ways of presentation have changed over the decades. It’s about an interesting journey and how our perceptions of art and sexuality have changed over time, Haapala continues.
According to him, the Tom of Finland exhibition at Kiasma, a museum of contemporary art, is a given already for this reason.
Haapala emphasizes that Tom of Finland has been a fighter: in his own time, such a topic was almost taboo.
– He has also paved the way for Finnish freedom of speech and equality, and has created an image in the world of what kind of country Finland really is.
Finnishness can be seen in the pictures
Kiasma’s recent exhibition covers Tom of Finland’s six-decade career, where the artist’s trademark characters, such as a lumberjack, motorcyclist, soldier and policeman, are prominently displayed.
Finland and Finnishness can be seen especially in the drawings made in the 1950s and 1960s. The lumberjacks and woodsmen oozing with erotic charge are like straight out of the golden age of Suomi film.
– From the period in question, you can find very iconic images of camping trips and support meadows, where nature plays an important role. The men have patchy-looking boots and there is a funny Finnish sense of humour. These pictures do make you smile, says Leevi Haapala.
The 2014 Tom of Finland stamps, dripping with gay eroticism, also blew the bank: they received more international attention than any other stamp in the world before.
– Tom of Finland has become a big factor and a pioneer of visual culture, a kind of artist’s artist. In the same way, you can also see his pictures printed on fabric in a shoulder bag: he is a consumer item and a common property for everyone, states Leevi Haapala.
An age-restricted exhibition
In accordance with the artist’s style and career, Kiasma’s *Tom of Finland – Rohkea matka* exhibition also includes a lot of pornographic material, but the museum decided not to put an age limit on the exhibition.
– Of course, we tell you that we do not recommend the exhibition for children. The families can decide for themselves and they also know how their children have been raised and whether it is time for the children to see the exhibition or not, says Leevi Haapala.
Haapala does not think that the recent Tom of Finland exhibition would otherwise cause real disapproval.
– I would think that nowadays we live in a liberal enough world that such a presentation of different sexuality through the works of an iconic artist is accepted. And we also present him as an international source of pride.
In connection with the exhibition, which is open until the end of October, a book of the same name will be published, which contains articles, previously published texts and excerpts from interviews with Tom of Finland.
An exhibition consisting of more than two hundred works was also seen in Helsinki Art Gallery in 2016, but the abundant accompanying material provided by Kiasma was not on display. The gay artist’s raunchy cartoons were on display at the Muu gallery two years earlier.
*Corrected on 28 April 2023 at 11:32: Touko Laaksonen’s year of death is 1991, not 1971.*