“ARTnews” Strife at Tom of Finland Foundation

It has been a long road to recognition for the artist known as Tom of Finland, who started out in the queer erotica underground, submitting his drawings of gay men with eye-popping physiques, often dressed in leather fetish gear and engaged in equally eye-popping sex acts, to magazines like Physique Pictorialin the 1950s, sometimes seeing them branded as pornographic.

Now he has arrived at international renown. When Finland’s postal service released stamps devoted to the artist in 2014, buyers placed orders from some 178 countries ahead of the launch. Filmmaker John Waters and critic Camille Paglia contributed to Taschen’s enormous 2016 book on the artist. When a musical devoted to his life opened in his home country in 2017, it sold out its run of more than 60 shows. [A new version of the musical is now runningnear Helsinki.] A 2023 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki was a hit; Frieze called him “one of the country’s greatest cultural exports.” The artist is represented by David Kordansky Gallery, with locations in Los Angeles and New York, and Galerie Judin in Berlin.

The board is facing accusations from Durk Dehner, who cofounded the foundation with the artist in 1984, and his partner, S. R. Sharp, who told ARTnewsthat he was an on-again, off-again employee at the foundation for decades. They also face considerable resentment and suspicion from other insiders, who spoke anonymously, whether for fear of retaliation or to protect future employment opportunities.

 

Tom of Finland Foundation, which is based in Los Angeles is devoted to preserving the legacy of the artist Tom of Finland (born Touko Laaksonen, 1920–1991).

The foundation has been very active in the field. Since 1993, it has hosted the annual Tom of Finland Art and Culture Festival, which it describes as the world’s largest erotic art fair, held at various locations internationally. In 2024, the organization teamed up with the fashion brand Diesel, which supported a collaboration.

Also in 1993, the foundation began to stage the Tom of Finland Emerging Erotic Artist Competition, which has been organized 11 times since, most recently in 2024. Besides an extensive collection of Tom of Finland’s work, say two former staffers, the foundation also holds a collection of at least 3,000 pieces by queer artists.

Richard Villani, a former employee, told ARTnewshe organized Amsterdam exhibitions at both Raam Art Space and Rob Gallery, which started in 1978 with a Tom of Finland exhibition; both involved former artists-in-residence at TOM House. [Both projects were greenlit by the Tom of Finland Foundation Board and the Foundation’s Executive Director, David Aldea, gave Villani the go-ahead.]

An Artist Residency Program at Issue

Dehner and Sharp claim the board abruptly discontinued programs at TOM House, including an artist residency program, without notifying the artists, some of whom had gone to considerable trouble and expense in preparation to come to LA. A group of 41 artists who have had residencies has published an open letter to the foundation, saying they are “deeply concerned by the lack of transparency and abrupt  interruption of several programs by the current administration.” [Dehner did not evict Tom of Finland Foundation from the House, they just stopped paying rent with no explanation and were sent a 60 day notice of termination.]

“All of us had transformative experiences at the Tom of Finland Foundation through our residencies,” write the artists, “and we want that artistic and community legacy to continue and develop into the future.”