— ABOUT THE EXHIBITION —

Touko Laaksonen, best known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland (May 8, 1920 – November 7, 1991) was a Finnish artist notable for his stylized fetish art and his influence on late twentieth century Gay culture.

Tom is considered one of the most influential creators of Gay pornographic images. Over the course of four decades Tom produced some 3,500 illustrations, featuring men with exaggerated primary and secondary sex traits: heavily muscled torsos, limbs, buttocks and large penises. Tight or partially removed clothing showed off these traits, with the penis often visible as a bulge in tight trousers or prominently displayed for the viewer. His drawings frequently featured explicit sexual activity.

Curator Rick Castro has chosen a selection of his artwork never seen before by the public: Tom’s collages, “doodles,” and photography. These combination of images are the ideas that eventually became his drawings.

November 7th, 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of Tom of Finland. Rick Castro, and Durk Dehner, President and Sharp, curator of Tom of Finland Foundation, are very pleased to present the premiere of these works.

Antebellum Gallery is located in the heart of downtown Hollywood. The term antebellum is Latin for "before war". While it commonly refers to a more romantic Gone With the Wind era, we find ourselves again today with American culture at odds with political / religious / social agendas that threaten to blow the lid off its foundations at any given moment.

Steeped in Victorian nuances with a salon style, Antebellum is intended as a hybrid of artistic, cultural, and political iconoclasm.