Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play

7.5. - 7.8.2016

In the world of Tom of Finland, everyone is allowed to be themselves – joy and pleasure belong to everyone. Kunsthalle Helsinki’s major exhibition portrays the artist’s work on wider scale than ever seen before.

A masterful stroke and iconic male figures have made Tom of Finland into one of Finland’s most widely-known artists. His bold and humorous imagery has sparked conversations on sexual diversity, equality as well as on the relationship between pornography and art.

The Pleasure of Play is the most comprehensive Tom of Finland exhibition to date, spanning six decades to include more than 180 drawings, 1930s childhood paper dolls, the full set of 1940s gouaches along with triptychs, individual drawings, storyboards and over 300 reference pages.

The exhibition was initially seen and conceived for and by Artists Space, New York in Summer 2015 and has been complemented with works and documentation portraying aspects of the personal history of the artist, such as early landscapes and photos lent from family albums.

The exhibition is produced in cooperation with Artists Space, New York.

Tom of Finland, Untitled, 1947. Gouache on paper. Tom of Finland Foundation, Permanent Collection