Tom of Finland, born Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991), has created a fascinating gay world with his pencil. This special edition of My Gay Eye presents the many sides of the artist and explores the Foundation he co-founded. Discover treasures from an extensive collection of gay art, many shown here for the first time. Contemporary authors and artists add to this unique homage to Tom with their essays, interviews, short stories and images.
To commemorate the official launch, Durk Dehner and SR Sharp (Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles), Claudia Gehrke (Publisher konkursbuch Verlag), Wolfgang Theis (Co-Founder and Curator Schwules Museum), Kevin Clarke (Schwules Museum and “My Gay Eye” Contributor) and Rinaldo Hopf (Artist and “My Gay Eye”) will join a panel discussion on Tom of Finland and the work of the Tom of Finland Foundation. There will also be official Tom of Finland Organic Vodka!
“My Gay Eye” is 400 pages strong and features works by over 100 artists, including Bastille, Henning von Berg, Peter Berlin, Rick Castro, Ruben Esparza, Etienne, Florian Hetz, G.B. Jones, Michael Kirwan, Bob Mizer, George Quaintance, Rex, Stuart Sandford, Gengoroh Tagame, The Hun, Arthur Tress and of course Tom of Finland. Written contributions include Michael Bullock, Kevin Clarke, Jamison Karon, Ralf König, Ralph Poole, Rolf Redlin, Stephen Reigns, Peter Rehberg and Durk Dehner. The book is available in two languages (English and German) and can be brought at konkursbuch Verlag and Schwules Museum starting April 1st 2018 (19,90€).