Sex and sexuality have long been depicted in visual culture, from Titian's Venus of Urbino to the phenomena of the pin-up girls, love and lust have been linked across the centuries. Tom of Finland takes this idea through an explicit homoerotic view. Exhibited at the David Kordansky Gallery in Chelsea, Tom of Finland’s pieces such as Highway Patrol, Greasy Rider, and others show men “engrossed in acts of homoerotic joy and ecstasy.” Be advised, this is not a show I would take my grandmother to, but Tom’s pieces exhibit exquisite control of line, gesture, and expression. What’s nice about his work is that there are narratives happening. Down the walls of the gallery, each image shows a progression of a story, albeit a very sexually-explicit one. His pieces are quite beautifully done: some aspects are hilarious and others incredibly brave. It takes a lot to put your desires down on paper, especially ones that at the time were seen as immoral.
I see this exhibit as an unabashed showing of love and enjoyment with zero shame or apologies. Done in a time of hate and repression towards the LBGTQ+ community, it is clear his pieces have influenced and echoed sentiments for queer liberation and pleasure. Free of judgment, censorship, or societal restrictions Tom of Finland's work demonstrates very human emotions of sexually-liberated pleasure.
- Emily Burak (edited 3/2/22)
Tom of Finland is such a special artist and I think your writing is to the point and accurate. His drawings, while I didn't see the show, are unabashed and erotic and he is in dialogue with a history of artists who choose and paint an ideal form. I like the description of drawing techniques he employs, maybe there could be more description about the appearance of the drawings? They are light graphite with some starker contrasting lines and details like this that would give a visual to the show. Also maybe a description of how they are displayed (close together, far apart, framed/not framed) and how that may inform the success of the show.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you’ve written here. I think it might be important to also look at how this work was presented. The otherwise blank room forces you to look closer at the work, and the way they are lined up emphasizes the narrative as it gets you to walk through the space. The pieces shown on the back wall, too, that you encounter after you work your way down the line and through the story, are interesting to me because of the context they provide and how they might influence each other. I also thought it was a nice break from the illustrations.
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