BURBANK, Calif. — Men.com is trumpeting a partnership with the Tom of Finland Foundation on an erotic anthology series toplined by A-listers Matthew Camp, Kurtis Wolfe and others.
The iconic hyper-masculine illustrations of Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991), aka Tom of Finland, have vaulted the artist to worldwide prominence. “His influence on the gay community is nearly impossible to calculate, serving as the first introduction to gay sexuality for entire generations of men,” explained a Men.com representative.
Laaksonen was the subject of a 2017 biopic from his native Finland, which issued a series of stamps featuring his artwork in 2014.
His work and life have been the subject of numerous exhibitions; in 2006, New York’s Museum of Modern Art accepted several pieces of his art for its permanent collection from the Judith Rothschild Foundation, which described Tom of Finland as “one of the five most influential artists of the 20th Century. As an artist he was superb, as an influence he was transcendent.”
Men.com is the first adult studio to launch a Tom of Finland series. (The now-defunct MSR Videos produced a movie inspired by Tom of Finland’s artwork in 2005, titled “Prowl 4: Back with a Vengeance.”)
The initial three episodes of “Men.com x Tom of Finland” will take as their inspiration a classic artwork and debut exclusively on Men.com.
While the first three installments will be period pieces, follow-up episodes move into the present-day and the future, intended to “re-imagine Tom of Finland for a new generation,” the rep said.
Men.com has enlisted indie filmmakers Cory Krueckeberg, Matt Lambert and Bruce LaBruce to helm episodes, along with Terry Miller of the It Gets Better Project and musician Casey Spooner.
LaBruce is the reigning XBIZ Awards winner for Gay Director of the Year (CockyBoys’ “Flea Pit”).
“Tom of Finland's drawings have always intrigued me and turned me on as a kind of burlesque of gay male sexuality. It's a performative masculinity that also happens to be extremely hot. There is much joy in the representation, as well as an underlying current of humor and irony,” said LaBruce.
Spooner echoed LaBruce’s regard for the late artist.
"Tom of Finland has always turned me on! I used to collect the ‘Kake’ comics in the ‘90s. I love the physical exaggeration and his wild narratives. I admire his freedom and ability to clearly express his deepest desires. I plan to do the same but in the 21st Century with the best and newest technology. The future is now!"
Lambert, who is based in Berlin, enthused about the opportunity to direct a highly personal episode.
"My film in the series was a chance to rewrite my own history growing up in L.A. — to create a fantastical version of my own youth through the Tom of Finland lens. This reality is one that I’m starting to see come to life in L.A. and one that Berlin has given me."
The first episode of “Men.com x Tom of Finland,” titled “1957,” debuts Friday and centers on Camp, Wolfe and Theo Brady.
Visit the studio online and on Twitter. Click here for the “Men.com x Tom of Finland” merch store.
Find ToFF online and on Twitter.
