IN THE DARKROOM: EXPLORING TOM OF FINLAND'S ENDURING INFLUENCE

Musings Abroad | Molly Gosewich

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"Whenever I was depressed or disgusted, I would feel him, that spirit inside, urging me back to living, back to drawing, I believe there is a lot to the world that can’t be seen or touched, and if you turn away from that — especially if you are an artist — you are avoiding an important part of life, maybe the very heart of it.” - Tom of Finland

Tom of Finland aka Touko Laaksonen 
Collage credit to Worldcrunch. Photo source.

Museums, be it local or international, are considered the arbiters of culture, keepers of history, and especially systems of representation. As an extension of such, exhibitions have become increasingly important to engage with many existing intersections of identity and to, in good faith, seek to advance conversations surrounding LGBTQ2+ iconography and representation in particular.

Fotografiska

My first grasp with queerness in the field of Museum Studies was with persons, both historical and contemporary: theorists like Judith Butler and artists such as Keith Haring, Mickalene Thomas, Catherine Opie, and my personal favourite, bisexual painter Tamara de Lempicka (I have a tattoo inspired by her work). The ArQuives, which was established to aid in the recovery and preservation of Canadian LGBTQ2+ histories, has also been a key window into queer museological knowledge, agency, and identities.

However, an artist I’ve always found to be equal parts seductive and intriguing throughout my experience as a Master of Museum Studies student is Tom of Finland (born Touko Laaksonen, 1920-1991). Though fairly characterized as graphic, provocative, and pornographic through his tangible association with kink and eroticism, his work is a refreshing reprieve from the puritanical Western art often kept by mainstream museums. Highly stylized and recognizable by muscled bodies, bulging appendages, leather fetish gear, and uniforms inspired by blue-collar workers and military men, Tom of Finland occupies a distinct, subversive space in the queer visual culture canon.

As someone with both an academic and personal interest in portraiture, I was even more enthralled with The Darkroom, a current exhibition (located in New York City, from April 30-August 20, 2021) that serves as an intimate look into the prolific artistry of Tom of Finland, curated by Berndt Arell of Fotografiska in collaboration with the Tom of Finland Foundation. As Pride 2021 celebrations looked a little different this year, The Darkroom is a fascinating way to engage with Tom of Finland’s 100 year legacy of queer art and never-before-seen, boundary-pushing, sexually powerful, homoerotic photographic portraits that served as references for his drawings.

Oppressed by the persecution of queerness in his native Finland, Laaksonen clandestinely photographed his muses/models as references for his drawings. They were kept under the cover of darkness and would become highly-coveted works in underground gay subcultures and communities. With the increasing openness found in the West, he would spend time in Los Angeles, where both freedom and his art were able to flourish. There, he would draw inspiration from American bodybuilding and develop a burgeoning interest in depicting Black men (some of his later illustrations would feature Black men and interracial sex scenes). This inclusion is doubly interesting, if not slightly problematic: Laaksonen had the general tendency to depict cis, white men, and more and more academics have touched on the hypermasculinization/hypersexualization and presence of Black men in visual culture. Though, it can be noted that, to some, he had helped to increase the visibility of "black gay male subjectivity" towards the culmination of the 20th century, the end of his career, to which critics characterize this period as his most overtly political. With Tom of Finland, all men were created equal.

Untitled, 1989. From Tom of Finland Foundation

Untitled, 1984 (Val Martin); Untitled, 1986, Untitled, 1986 (above), Untitled, 1986 (below).

Tom of Finland Permanent Collection

A statement from exhibition producer Jessica Jarl says, “To Fotografiska, this is a brilliant example of how photography – besides standing on its own – often plays a part in many different kinds of creating. The story of The Darkroom – the first art exhibition where Tom of Finland's photographs are also being shown – is in many ways a journey through time. From dark hidden rooms or parks, to open, well-lit salons. In some places, strong forces are now pushing this art – and the lifestyles it reflects – back into the darkness. One more reason to lift the importance of free art. And it feels right to have Tom's voice be heard.”

The very premise of this exhibition is born out of the sexually repressive environment of 1950s Finland. Laaksonen set up a darkroom in a closet of his home in Helsinki to develop the photographs he took. Not only racy and homoerotic, they were outlawed. The Darkroom displays his portraits on black walls with red accents; they are the star of the show, featuring hyper-masculine hunks, clad in uniforms or leather gear, all distended muscles and members. They act to fearlessly confront a system that even today continues to deny freedoms, legality, and basic rights to queer, gay, and trans communities — bringing to light the current relevancy of their struggle for liberation. 

Tom of Finland: 'The Darkroom'
Wallpaper

Even during the height of the AIDS crisis, Laaksonen continued to create positive images of gay culture, and in 1987, made a now-famous drawing encouraging the practice of safe sex. The title of the exhibition The Darkroom just feels so apt. To end off, here is a quote by longtime Whitney Museum curator Richard D. Marshall (Quoted in Ferguson, 2019) that illustrates the impact and significance of not only Tom of Finland's work, but also of the very concept of The Darkroom:

“Tom of Finland emerged in the 1950s to deliver us from the repressive, fearful, and disguised sexuality of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Tom made the idealized male beauty of the Greek gods become contemporary, real living gods, with no judgmental distinction between active and passive sexual roles. Tom made the artificial Roman breastplate into lively skin and muscle; Tom made Christian sado-masochism positive, desirable, and enviable; Tom made Michelangelo’s saints naked and aggressive; Tom brought honest, ribald, consensual, enjoyable, and delirious male sexuality back into twentieth century art. (1997, p. 252)”

Suffice to say, as travel restrictions begin to lessen, I recommend visiting this exhibition if you’re interested in studies and imagery of sex positivity, masculinity, countering heteronormativity, queer culture, and unapologetic art. If you find yourself in New York City, go see for yourself.

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Sources Referenced and Further Reading

Alan Sinfield (2004). On Sexuality and Power. Columbia University Press, https://doi.org/10.7312/sinf13408.

Leena-Maija Rossi (2019). From arousing drawings to art to behold: Tom of Finland’s long and winding road to the art world, Porn Studies, 6:4, 459-463, DOI: 10.1080/23268743.2019.1580450

Michael Ferguson (2019) Tom of Finland, Journal of Homosexuality, 66:6, 857-862, DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2018.1514206

Nicholas Boston (2021). The Photography of Tom of Finland. Gay City News, https://www.gaycitynews.com/tom-of-finland-photography-art/.

Thomson Reuters Institute (2020). Out of the Shadows: Remembering ‘Tom of Finland,’

https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/legal/tom-of-finland/.

EDGING ON PORNOGRAPHY: NUDE DAGUERREOTYPES IN THE GETTY COLLECTION

Object of the Week | Caitlin McCurdy

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Rear of a Daguerreotype advertising portraits and lessons. Source

With the advent of any new artistic technology, from the earliest, crudest sculptures of early mankind, to painting or photography, one of the first things to be depicted seems to be the nude form of women. The ancient Greeks did it, 15th century painters like Sandro Botticelli did it, and with the advent of Daguerreotypes by Francois Daguerre in 1839, a technology was made available that allowed a larger audience to produce and distribute highly sophisticated reproductions of the female form. Each Daguerreotype was a unique image on a silvered copper plate, and portrait studios quickly became commercial enterprises. This inflation of the portrait market allowed a second market to develop for portraits of a more scandalous nature.

This week’s Object of the Week is a collection of nude Daguerreotypes from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The museum has over 2000 Daguerreotypes, but the female nudes reveal a history of Paris’ 19th century porn market, and where lines were being delineated between artistic representation and pornography. In researching for this article, I found that often Daguerreotypes were being defined between this line of what 19th century morality would allow and what it deemed too vulgar for the masses.


Example of a more demure nude. Source

Daguerreotypes did not render the colour of the subjects they captured, so many were coloured by hand. The vast majority of Daguerreotype studio owners were men, so all examples of nudes in this article were taken by men. The first daguerreotype highlighted in this article, seen above, depicts a woman in a transparent gown, standing against a mirror. Her hands, up in her hair braiding, conceal her breasts from view. This photo suggests a spontaneous glimpse into a private moment, a teasing of nudity rather than the more provocative examples to come.

The next example is described in the Getty collection as a study of a woman resting on a divan in profile. This appears to be the generally accepted “artist’s study” of female nudity, rather than outright pornography. Her pose mimics the stance of ancient marble statues, the nude of a different era.


An "Artist's Study". Source

The images tend to begin being described as pornographic when there is more than one subject in the frame. The following, titled Two Women Embracing is described as “posturing teetered between artist’s study and pornography”. The poses appear to be more for the pleasure of the observer, positioned to be revealed to the camera. It feels voyeuristic, looking in at an intimate spontaneous moment between lovers. However, knowing that the process behind producing a Daguerreotype could take several minutes, the models likely had to hold this pose for an unnatural amount of time while the photo was being taken.


Two Women Embracing. Source.

The question I keep returning to in my study of nudity within museum collections is when does the female body switch from an artistic study of form to pornography. My first, instinctual answer is that this switch occurred with the emergence of photographic representation of contemporary women, as they may appear more relevant and scandalizing to contemporary museum audiences than a centuries old painting or sculpture. The reality, however, is likely more complex than my answer. There are examples of paintings that pushed this distinction too far, crossing the line between artistic appreciation of form into more explicitly erotic depictions. But the availability of technologies like the Daguerreotype allowed a greater number of people to create reproductions of nudity.


Voyeurism and the Nude. Source

These Daguerreotypes were produced and sold out of Paris’ underground porn market, a reaction against crackdowns on a perceived morality crisis. In the example above, Two Nudes in Boudoir Studio Setting, the viewer is again intruding on a fabricated private moment. The shape of the frame also suggests an air of voyeurism, as if they are peering through a viewfinder at the scene within. The quiet intimacy of the subjects, leaning against the surrounding objects of the room reflects common artistic practices within the medium. The women in these images mirror the positions of the singular artist’s study of female nudes, and yet the presence of both women causes these examples to cross the line over into the pornographic.

Why is this? All these examples are functionally the same, pictures taken by men of nude women in similar time periods. My best estimation at this time is that the presence of another contains with it the suggestion of further action. What happened in the boudoir moments after the Daguerreotype was taken? Perhaps therein lies the answer, what makes these images pornographic lies in the voyeur’s imagination.

iGINSBERG: BEYOND TRADITION ON CAMPUS (PART THREE)

BEYOND TRADITION

BY: AMY INTRATOR

Welcome to the final edition of Beyond Tradition on Campus! For my last post this year, I will be venturing inside the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. The library opened in its current location in 1973, and has established a reputation for its extensive collection of rare books and dedication to research. Over the years, the Fisher library has also held several special exhibitions. Its current exhibition displays pieces of the collection but also integrates technology and interpretive materials in new and exciting ways.

Fleeting Moments, Floating Worlds, and the Beat Generation: The Photography of Allen Ginsberg is currently on display on the at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. The exhibit explores Allen Ginsberg, a poet known for his defining role in the Beat literary movement. Ginsberg’s poetry is familiar to many, especially his poem Howl, but the exhibit explores the familiar poet through his  less familiar photography. The library is home to the largest collection of Ginsberg prints in the world, and the exhibition displays over 100 of these photographs. 

Poster for the current exhibit at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library: "Fleeting Moment Floating Worlds, and the Beat Generation: The Photography of Allen Ginsberg. Photo courtesy of Amy Intrator.

The scope of the exhibit is phenomenal. The exhibit displays photographs taken throughout Ginsberg’s long literary life, from early photographs taken before his seminal works were published, to portraits of friends and fellow Beat poets in the 1950s and onwards, to photographs taken up to Ginsberg’s death in 1997. The exhibition takes on the major task of contextualizing Ginsberg’s photography, which captures everything from same sex relationships in the mid-twentieth century, to the Beat movement and its poets, to the counter-culture movements in the 1960s, to social justice in the late twentieth century. The extended timeline makes for a lot of content, but the exhibit is also full of interpretive tools that make this material more accessible, like the iPads dispersed throughout the exhibition space.

The first display case of the exhibit, which includes photographs and poetry by Ginsberg. Photo courtesy of Amy Intrator. 

The iPads help make the information in the exhibit accessible in new forms. The digital content doesn’t repeat the information available in the display cases, but rather, provides new forms of digital interaction. The iPads offer the visitor a menu of options, from listening to an audio recording of Howl, to viewing the pages of the poem’s manuscript, to scrolling through a detailed timeline of Ginsberg’s life. For a visitor who may not have the time to read every panel, or who prefers to navigate material at their own pace, the iPads offer new opportunities to interact with Ginsberg the man, the poet, and the photographer. 

One of the iPads on display at the exhibit. Photo courtesy of Amy Intrator.

Beyond the iPads, the library also offers free audio tours of the exhibition available on iTunes and Soundcloud. The curator-led tour offers another way to interact with the exhibition and supplements the material on display with additional insights. On the library’s Soundcloud page, anyone can access tours from the last five exhibitions. These tours supplement current exhibitions, but they also provide a way to interact with previous exhibitions that are no longer on display.

Poster for the exhibition's audio tour. Photo courtesy of Amy Intrator.

The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library may be primarily known for its amazing collection, but this exhibit opened my eyes to the library’s innovative use of its exhibition space. The library’s next exhibition, Mixed Messages: Making and Shaping Culinary Culture in Canada, will also feature a digital component. You can read more about the exhibition’s innovative approach in Jenny’s most recent article Who’s In the Kitchen? Exploring Canada’s Culinary Culture at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.

With that final glimpse at an innovative space on campus, it’s time for me to bid farewell to this special edition series of Beyond Tradition. Thank you for joining me in my exploration of campus spaces. Through my campus journey, I learned that while campus may not be the first place I look for museum innovation, there are countless spaces that are incorporating exciting museum practices. I hope next time you embark on a museum adventure, you consider paying a visit to campus.

SHOWCASING STRUGGLES FOR JUSTICE: RYERSON IMAGE CENTRE AND BLACK ARTIST'S NETWORK DIALOGUE PRESENT POWER TO THE PEOPLE

Museums and galleries are uniquely poised to showcase struggles for justice. The Ryerson Image Centre (RIC) in partnership with Black Artist’s Network Dialogue (BAND) has opened Power to the People: Photography and Video of Repression and Black Protest. This series of exhibitions throws light on various moments and forms of resistance by people of colour in the twentieth century.  As noted in the remarks made on opening night, you cannot fail to notice that these historical issues are timely. 

Attica USA 1971 at Ryerson Image Centre Photo: Kendra Campbell 

Power to the People includes

• Attica USA 1971: Images and Sounds for a Rebellion
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• Birmingham Alabama, 1963, Dawoud Bey/Black Star
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• Adam Pendleton My Education, a Portrait of David Hilliard 
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• Sisters in the Struggle: Angela Davis and Kathleen Cleaver

Each individual exhibition addresses the struggle of yesterday and today in a way that is poignant and profound.  The sprawling timeline in Attica, USA 1971 recounts the hour-by-hour struggle to regain control and the failed negotiations of the Attica Prison Riots.

Timeline of Attica Prison Riot at Ryerson Image Centre
Photo: Kendra Campbell

Perhaps even more sobering is the Declaration to the People of America Wall that outlines the practical proposals of the inmates. Number 1? Apply the New York State minimum wage law to all state institutions. Stop Slave Labour.  Number 4?  End all censorship of newspapers, magazines, letters and other publications coming from the publisher.

Attica USA, 1971 at Ryerson Image Centre
Photo: Kendra Campbell 

Compelling text is complemented by the voice of the struggle that can be heard in the exhibit space. Multimedia was an important tool used by the oppressed to write, sing, and resist. Songs of the era made subtle and not-so-subtle references to the political climate. TV appearances by lawyers, activists and public figures further amplified the voice of the oppressed. 

Attica USA 1971, Ryerson Image Centre
Photo: Kendra Campbell

Power to the People has framed the themes of power and representation in a way that balances the tragedy and resiliency of Black stories. I'd argue that the exhibit masterfully embodies Angela Davis who proclaimed that "I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept." 

At this critical juncture in our history, what can museums change? What can they no longer accept?

Power to the People is a striking example of the ways in which museums and galleries cannot only preserve and showcase cultural memory, but also become a site for exploring the roots of historical tensions through dialogue and action. 

Power to the People is on display from now until April 9, with a number of guest lectures offered to the public.  On February 2nd,  Ryerson Image Centre and BAND will open a pop-up gallery titled No Justice, No Peace: From Ferguson to Toronto at the Gladstone Hotel.

NEW YEAR, OLD STUFF: TIPS ON PRESERVING FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS AND DOCUMENTS

CONSERVATION TIPS & TRICKS

BY: KRISTEN MCLAUGHLIN

Happy New Year! With every new year comes the hope to successfully organize and clean our homes. I've decided to start out 2017 with something easy but practical. It is something everyone can do and should do, if they are able: conserving family photographs and documents!

Over the holidays, I went back to my hometown to spend time with my family. Everytime I go home I go over old family photographs; not just the ones from 5 or 10 or 15 years ago but the ones from 50, 70, or 100 years ago.

Do you have any photographs like that in your home? What about letters and other documents that are just as old?

These aren't just objects to toss into a closet and forget about. These are exciting wonderful windows into our pasts and our family's history. Such things should be protected as much as possible, as you never want to lose them and the stories they have to share.

Photographs and documents can succumb to various types of damage: sun damage from improper storage, mould, water damage, tearing, fading, and more. Most damage is the result of time and improper storage, especially because old materials often used in photography are actually not good for the items themselves.

Conserving your family photographs and documents is actually pretty easy!

DIGITAL PRESERVATION

1) Scanning

Scanning is the ideal way to protect your photographs long-term even though it is time consuming. If it's negatives or slides you will need a specific scanning machine for these. It is a good idea to have an external hard drive to protect the digital photographs, otherwise one bad day for your computer, it breaks, and they're all gone. The resolution that is best for future printing is 300 dpi, save it as TIFF or JPEG, and 24 bit RGB color. The other standard settings on a scanner are usually good for image downloading.

2) Re-photographing

Take new digital photographs of your old film ones and store them as above in an external hard drive. However, I find there are often problems with light shining on the old photograph and it can become quite a hassle unless you set up an intricate lighting system.

Example of re-photographing. My sister snapped this shot of a photo of some of our Czech ancestors. Source: Shannon McLaughlin. 

STORAGE

Storage is probably the most crucial element for preserving family photos/documents yet it is also easily misunderstood. The best environment for photographs is a dark room-temperature room with 40% humidity; attics and basements are generally a no-no, as you don't want to store them in a damp location or somewhere that is prone to flooding/pest invasion (note: silverfish loove paper products!). Also remove any old materials that are harmful for photographs (glassine sleeves, often used to store old negatives, are bad for photographs).

Generally shoeboxes are fine for photographs, but for older more sensitive photos (hint: the century-old ones), archival standard storage materials is best. What is this? Archival quality storage material is more commonly known as acid-free/lignin-free or storage materials that don't create harmful off-gassing or leaching, usually because they have been buffered to maintain a more stable pH. If possible, it is best to store photographs/documents flat with acid-free tissue between them. Carr McLean is a professional Canadian archival product company, however local craft stores will usually sell archival products and if not may know alternate locations.

Albums are a fine way to store photographs but you have to be aware of what kind of album it is! Self-adhesive albums, which we may remember as the ones with the plastic-y sheets that lay overtop the photographs, are one such example of a bad set-up; as the years pass, it becomes more and more impossible to peel the plastic back without ripping the photograph (this is happening to me these days). Some tips:

-use photo corners instead (even though they can be frustrating)
-use acid-free paper photo albums
-separate pages with acid-free tissue

Note: store on a shelf so they aren't sitting on the floor and store away from food/water.

Examples of different types of archival boxes for your storage needs! Source.

Another Note: Make sure to use containers that are the proper size, not only big enough but tight enough so the items don't shift too much. Don't overstuff it and again, acid or lignin free is your friend!

ALREADY DAMAGED?

What if you stumble upon a photograph or document that is already moldy, stuck together, torn, has damaged binding, etc? (hint, if there are pests, isolate it in a quarantined room and then try to decide if it is worth keeping!).

Contact a conservator or your local archives society for advice and aide! Normally, if proper storage doesn't do it you will need some extra help.



There are many methods out there on caring for your family photographs and documents. With the advent of the digital age we should all try our best to preserve our family's older physical objects, if not for ourselves then surely for future family generations to look back on. Start your 2017 off with safe storage of precious family memories!




Resources:

http://www.theconservationcenter.com/article/2716227-the-importance-of-heirloom-conservation
http://startstudioarts.si.edu/2012/01/archival-storage-what-does-it-mean.html
http://library.ryerson.ca/asc/2015/07/caring-for-your-family-photograph-collection/
https://www.archives.gov/preservation/family-archives