‘Expression, sexuality and individualism’: Diesel exhibition is a trip into the homoerotic world of Tom of Finland

Tom of Finland’s libidinally charged illustrations of muscled-up men in various states of embrace – and often clad in skin-tight leather or denim – have seen the Finnish artist (born Touko Laaksonen), become one of queer art’s most distinctive voices. First appearing in publications like Bob Mizer’s Physique Pictorial in the 1950s, his stylised drawings would – as his eponymous Los Angeles-based foundation describes – ‘fuel both the sexual fantasies and the aesthetics of gay men'.

Glenn Martens, the Belgian creative director of Italian fashion label Diesel, has forged a deep-rooted relationship with the Tom of Finland Foundation and its president Durk Dehner, a friend and lover of Laaksonen, who set up the foundation with him in 1984 (the artist would die in 1991, with Dehner becoming the guardian of his legacy). ‘[His work] seemed to affect me in a way that art never had before, an emotional way,’ Dehner told Wallpaper* on the occasion of Diesel’s ‘AllTogether’ exhibition in Venice in 2022, which combined Tom of Finland’s illustrations with the work of other erotic artists. ‘There was something in it that made it feel like he had done these pictures for us, for gay boys. That was important in a world where nothing felt like it was made for you,’ he said.

Diesel takes Tom of Finland to Tokyo

Now, a new exhibition of Tom of Finland’s work is being hosted in the Diesel Art Gallery in Tokyo, part of the brand’s vast flagship store in the buzzing Shibuya district. Titled ‘Forty Years of Pride’, the display marks a rare opportunity to see Tom of Finland exhibited in Japan and features the artist’s works both in colour and black and white, some of which are for sale. The former includes the bright red of a Santa costume (worn by a typically gleaming Adonis with just a Christmas stocking for modesty); the latter, men in wipe-clean black leather boots and chaps. Diesel says the exhibition ‘amplifies the message of freedom of expression, sexuality and individualism’ at the heart of Tom of Finland’s oeuvre.

Alongside the show, there is a VR experience that allows viewers to be transported to Tom House, the artist’s former Los Angeles residence which now serves as a community hub and gallery space, alongside hosting artists in residence who explore erotic themes in their practices. 'Present-day artists are inspired by the generation before, they feed off each other,’ Dehner previously told Wallpaper*. ‘At the foundation, we promote the present and future, and protect the past. That’s really what creates community and family, because family isn’t just who’s alive today – it’s where you come from, all the people came before.’

The exhibition offers a final opportunity to shop Martens’ Pride collection for Diesel, which is the third to be made in collaboration with the Tom of Finland Foundation. The collection also celebrates artists Stuart Sandford, Suzanne Shifflett, Tank, the Hun, Valentine and Henning von Berg, who are each linked to the Foundation. The boldly illustrated pieces, some in playful trompe o’eil, span T-shirts, sweaters and the requisite jockstrap. The collection’s launch last month coincided with the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival, held this year in Berlin’s Berghain nightclub, supported by Diesel.

‘Forty Years Of Pride’ runs at the Diesel Art Gallery in the Diesel store in Shibuya, Tokyo from until August 14, 2024.

The Diesel x Tom of Finland Foundation Pride collection is available from Diesel’s website.

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