By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Tom of Finland exhibit celebrates Nordic country's gay icon
preview.jpg
Kiasma museum director Leevi Haapala poses at the exhibition of Finnish artist Tom of Finland during the media day of his retrospective exhibition 'Bold Journey' at the Finnish National Gallery Kiasma in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, April 27, 2023. A new exhibition showing the works of Touko Laaksonen, better known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland, adds a personal touch to the late Finnish artist whose homoerotic drawings of muscular men gained a following in the gay community starting in the 1950s. - photo by Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva via AP
HELSINKI (AP) — A new exhibition showing the works of Touko Laaksonen, better known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland, adds a personal touch to the late Finnish artist whose homoerotic drawings of muscular men gained a following in the gay community from the 1950s. “Tom of Finland — Bold Journey,” which opens Friday at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki, features Laaksonen's drawings, archive material, personal clothing items as well as memorabilia, letters, publications, magazines and films. Laaksonen's cheerful, sexually explicit works made an impact in the art world at a time when homosexuality was illegal or classified as a disease in countries around the world, including his native Finland.