How Artist Tom of Finland Shaped LGBTQ+ Culture

And we want to move further away from the word “erotic” — it served us well for many, many years, but now it’s out of date. What we’re really using to replace it is the word “queer.” For example, the Tom House is a historic cultural landmark of [Los Angeles], and the word “queer” was used in describing the artist that lived here for a decade, which was Tom of Finland. He was a queer artist. We [want to be] much more inclusive.

Can you talk about some of the programming in Palm Springs for Leather Pride?

We’re bringing a small exhibition of original Tom of Finland art. We’ll have an exhibition at the Mizell Center and the Palm Springs Cultural Center. I’m going to have a talk with [nude photographer] Tom Bianchi. Richard Villani, who’s our creative director, and I will have a vendor booth at the Dark Alley Marketplace. We’re also doing a cigar social and an exhibition of works that will be for sale from our artist-in-residency program.

We have so much different programming so that we can reach out and get more of the queer populace involved with us.

Do you think Tom of Finland’s art goes beyond gay men?

I have been so impressed with lesbians who have told me how big of fans they are of Tom of Finland. I think that Tom of Finland could have its own lesbian weekend just for women, and it would be fun, because it inspires and ignites that pleasure.

I was in Riga in Latvia, and we had a group exhibition we were part of, and there were three women who were just laughing, looking at Tom’s art and just enjoying themselves. I went up to them and I said, “Can I know what you’re experiencing?” And they said, “He just makes us feel really good inside.” That was really very touching.

There was a contemporary female photographer from Paris. I caught her at an opening of Tom’s work at a gallery there, and she was just smiling and looking over the crowd and beaming. And I said, “Would you share with me what was in your mind?” And she said to me, “Here’s the works of a man who did not inhibit what was in his heart, and what he represents is freedom for all of us.” That’s really in a nutshell what the foundation represents. He represents freedom.

Everyone is welcome. When you look at the diversity of the people that come to see us, they’re from all over the world and all ethnicities and all sexualities. They inherently feel that we’re not representing a white male, we’re representing our expanding community and how it gets expressed.

What are the oldest and newest pieces of media in the archive?

We have four Japanese pillow paintings from the early 20th century, so they’re quite old, and they are made on silk. They’re paintings made for brides to show them how to pleasure their husbands.  

We have an artist in residence here right now. He takes Polaroids of guys — usually naked — and then he cross-stitches on top of the Polaroid. He came up with this on his own, and it’s very unique.

What’s your favorite Tom of Finland artwork?

It’s called “Ecstasy.” It’s a colored pencil of a man who is laying naked, and he’s got his arms around pairs of boots, looking directly at the viewer. And for him, that character, he’s in ecstasy because he loves boots.