GAYLETTER

When I saw my first Tom of Finland image as a small, curious, yet closeted gay teen I was utterly flabbergasted. Never before had I seen such a bold and titillating expression of male sexuality that I think subconsciously influenced my taste in men. Born Touko Laaksonen in Finland in 1920 Tom of Finland I am told is considered to be the most iconic gay artist of the 20th century. Artists Space is having an opening for their new exhibition of Tom’s work with more than 180 drawings from the 1940’s and over 300 pages of collages and early childhood works. By now I’m sure you’ve seen one or two of his masterfully executed drawings with the focus on cock, cock, and more cock. “His emblematic larger-than-life drawn phalluses not only threaten the existing symbolic order of heterosexuality, but also reorganize the principles by which (homo-) sexual desires are structured.” Oh, ok, I just thought they made gay men hot. Of interesting note, Tom had his first gallery exhibition in New York, facilitated by the help of his friend Mr. Robert Mapplethorpe who he met in 1978 in San Francisco (that must have been an interesting evening). Please tell me you’re in town this weekend and your half share on Fire Island hasn’t started yet. I would love to see you at the opening to have a few beers and possibly sleep together. Mossy’s back!

FREE, 6:00-8:00PM, Artists Space, 38 Greene St. 3rd floor, NY, NY.