Exhibition Tom of Finland - Galerie Judin

until 19.12. | #2830ARTatBerlin | Galerie Judin shows from September 12, 2020 the exhibition “Made in Germany” by the artist Tom of Finland. It is the second solo exhibition with Tom of Finland in the gallery.

Under the pseudonym Tom of Finland, Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991) rose to become one of the most important and influential Finnish artists. His iconic depictions of proud and life-affirming gay life have given a decisive impetus to international gay emancipation since the 1960s. But although we clearly associate his lustful portraits of self-confident cops, cowboys, farmers, and men in black leather with the USA, Tom’s rise to gay icon hood began neither in his native Finland nor in the USA. Of all conceivable places, it was the northern German city of Hamburg and outstanding figures of the local gay scene that led to the very first exhibition of the artist’s work since the 1970s, a bar named after him and decorated with his works, two murals, and the creation of the world’s largest collection of his works in private hands. Regular commissions for advertising material for gay events in the Hanseatic city allowed Tom to hang up his livelihood in an advertising agency – and become a freelance artist. And Hamburg was to become the proverbial gateway to the world in another respect as well: in fact here also Tom’s first trip to the USA was initiated. In and from Hamburg, Tom’s drawings – until then often dismissed as mere reproductive material – began their worldwide triumphal march as works of art. The fact that today we understand Tom of Finland as an artist and not as a mere comic artist with a penchant for pornography is therefore not least Made in Germany.

Tom of Finland, Untitled, 1973
© 1973-2020 Tom of Finland Foundation, Tangermann Collection

On the occasion of the artist’s 100th birthday, the gallery is dedicating a museum exhibition to Judin Tom’s relationship to Germany with more than 60 international loans – many of which are being presented to the public for the first time – as well as an extensive exhibition catalog, which will be published by Skira this winter.

Soft opening: Friday, September 11, 2020, from 6 – 9 p.m.

Exhibition dates: Saturday, September 12 – Saturday, December 19, 2020

To the Gallery

Exhibition Tom of Finland – Gallery Judin | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin