Diesel’s Glenn Martens and Durk Duhren give VogueMagazine an exclusive look into Tom of Finland’s artworks
Tom of Finland’s gay erotica needs no introduction. If you’ve seen it, you know it. The same cannot be said of the namesake foundation the artist established in 1984 at his home in Los Angeles’s Echo Park with the help of longtime friend Durk Dehner.
People actually think that the TOF Foundation is just about Tom’s work or his private archive. But in 1984 we established ourselves as a nonprofit organization; Tom and I had artist friends donate their work to the foundation so the chances of being remembered and not overlooked by the art world might’ve been higher. Soon after that we had the AIDS epidemic, which basically destroyed our family, so we became a sort of haven.
The city of Los Angeles has made Tom’s house a Historic-Cultural Monument. They recognized the legacy of Tom’s gay activism. Tom came along at a time in the 1950s and started to draw very sex-positive homosexual men. The young, homosexual scene then turned into protests and true activism, demanding equality and rights. Tom’s art nurtured all that, helping the movement to grow.
Being Finnish, Tom was very modest, but finally in his late 60s, he said: “Well, I have to admit that I was lying to myself when I said that I was just doing my drawings and nothing else because I realized from the beginning that I had an intent. I wanted to see if I could change the way gay men felt about themselves, and I wanted to see if I can elevate that and make them feel proud.” So he actually had an intention from the beginning.
What we hope will happen to people visiting this exhibition is that they go away changed, affected positively by the art and what it expresses, and their attitude about the gay community and diversity is changed. We hope to create a more tolerant world so we can all coexist. It’s our duty to be out there doing that.And we at Diesel think it’s also crucial to convey a positive message.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
‘The Mummy’ Reboot Director Calls the Tom Cruise Film “The Biggest Failure of My Life”Alex Kurtzman admitted there are 'a million things' he regrets about the 2017 movie that also starred Russell Crowe and Sofia Boutella.
Leer más »
Why Tom Schwartz finally ditched his wedding ring amid Katie Maloney divorce“I just woke up one day and I was like, ‘Maybe it’s time to stop wearing it out of respect for Katie,” the “Vanderpump Rules” star exclusively told Page Six.
Leer más »
Tom Brady Says He Thinks He Could Play Until 50, But He Won’tThe quarterback turns 45 in August.
Leer más »
‘Heartbroken’ fan puts Tom Brady’s record-setting 624th touchdown ball up for auctionWhen Tom Brady announced his retirement in February, for 40 days, Janice Green owned what was potentially one of the most valuable footballs in the world. That is, until he 'unretired.'
Leer más »
NAB Show Opens With Projected 55,000 Attendees; Hollywood’s Focus Includes Cloud-Based and Virtual Production'Virtual production is a mainstay of physical production,' Amazon Studios head of physical production Glen Gainor said as NAB's exhibition opened.
Leer más »
Binance Completes Four Network Integrations And Opens Deposits | Binance SupportFellow Binancians, Binance has completed the BIFI (Fantom), REEF (Reef), USDC (Ronin) and USDT (Polygon) integrations. Please find your assigned BIFI (Fantom), REEF (Reef), USDC (Ronin) and USDT (P...
Leer más »