Tom of Finland is the artist name of Finnish Touko Laaksonen. He signed his erotic work “Tom” and when his drawings were first published in 1957, now world-famous “Tom of Finland” was born.
Reykjavik International Film Festival will honour Tom of Finnland and showcase his works in cooperation with Iceland Academy of the Arts during A special reception will be hold on the 2nd of October right after the Q&A screening at 19:15.
Touko Laaksonen, aka Tom of Finland (1920, Kaarina – 1991, Helsinki), was a child of grammar school teachers and grew up in rural Finland. At the age of 19 he enrolled in a distance learning advertising course. Soon drafted, he joined the Finnish Army in its fight against the Soviet invasion. After the war he stayed in Helsinki, studying classical piano at the renowned Sibelius Academy. While at the Academy, Tom of Finland worked as freelance graphic designer, later becoming senior art director at the Helsinki office of the global advertising agency McCann Erickson (Source: http://artistsspace.org/exhibitions/tom-of-finland)
