Tom of Finland
Tom of Finland is arguably regarded as the most recognized and influential gay erotic artist in modern history. His impressive body of work of over 3000 illustrations spans four decades and has been seen worldwide in books, magazines, galleries, etc. Fortunately he enjoyed commercial success during his lifetime and was able to start his own company in 1979 to collect, market and distribute his work--The Tom of Finland Company. Before his death in 1991 he was able to participate in a biographical documentary Daddy and the Muscle Academy which stands today as one of the most fascinating features on the gay influence in pop culture. His company exists today as the Tom of Finland Foundation which not only preserves the legacy of the man (whose real name was Touko Laaksonen) but also promotes and preserves homoerotic artwork. The foundation has also branded clothing and accessory lines for the past ten years or so, inspired by the artist's work.
In recent years the art Tom of Finland has gotten more recognition in mainstream pop art thanks to the efforts of Taschen Books. The company has produced some of the finest art and pop culture books and calendars of all shapes and sizes, often showcasing less familiar art and photography (much of it forgotten), including adult, fetish and queer art and pop culture. If you check out the Taschen site and look at its library of collections you'll see the company is so highly regarded.
More than ten years ago Taschen introduced Tom of Finland art to mainstream publishing in the book Tom of Finland: The Art of Pleasure. Since then Taschen's "sexy book" editor Dian Hanson has overseen several Tom of Finland collections including Tom Of Finland (a "basic art" hardcover compilation), Tom of Finland Comic Collection (boxed set), and the Complete Kake Comics. Many of these books sold out and are out of print so Taschen decided to put out a collection that would do justice to his legacy.
Tom Of Finland: XXL is coming out later this month and represents the biggest tribute yet to the work of the legendary artist. As it has often done with many of its collections Taschen has made every effort to make this special. It's a huge hardcover measuring about 11.5 " by 16" with 666 pages of over 1000 images. The Tom of Finland Foundation worked with Taschen to put together this compilation, gathered from international sources and often including never before seen work. There are even some of the images are being put back into sequential context for this collection. In addition the book contains all-new essays done for this edition by luminaries such as Camille Paglia, John Waters, Armistead Maupin, Todd Oldham, and art historian Edward Lucie-Smith.
Tom Of Finland: XXL is relatively expensive but it's also reasonably priced considering the amount of material. Nevertheless the link we've provided here will take you to Amazon where you can purchase the book for an extraordinarily less expensive price.
Posted by JackManly at 3/9/2009 8:33 AM 
Categories: gay porn, pop culture, books
Tags: Taschen Tom of Finland
Categories: gay porn, pop culture, books
Tags: Taschen Tom of Finland
The Tom of Finland Art Fair is coming to West Hollywood on March 27 - 29, 2009 at the West Hollywood Auditorium on San Vincente. It's a ton of fun with lots of hot guys and great art (depicting hot guys!).
Get more info at www.tomoffinlandfoundation.org
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