AllTogether by Tom of Finland Foundation and The Community

Durk Dehner and S.R. Sharp of Tom of Finland Foundation share the story of the Foundation and their permanent collection. Creative direction by Richard Villani. Filmed and Edited by Francis Gum. A film commissioned by The Community for the occasion of AllTogether, 2022, 3:13. *** For thirty years, Tom of Finland Foundation has assembled the most extensive collection of LGBTQ+ art in the world. Durk Dehner and Tom of Finland co-founded the Foundation in 1984 to preserve and promote Tom’s work. The Foundation’s role quickly expanded to promoting and archiving the work of other queer artists: the Foundation’s early years coincided with the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Many of his erotic artists of the time, some of whom worked anonymously throughout their lives, feared that their work would be forgotten or destroyed after their death. They donated their life’s works to the Foundation, knowing that they would be carefully archived and their stories preserved. Tom of Finland Foundation and The Community curated AllTogether, an exhibition showing more than 200 works from Tom of Finland Foundation’s permanent collection. The artworks were presented to the public for the first time outside of Los Angeles. AllTogether comprised of two parallel yet distinct exhibitions, the first opening at Studio Cannaregio, Venice on 23rd April 2022 on the occasion of La Biennale di Venezia and the second at The Community Centre, Paris on 8th May 2022, celebrating Tom of Finland’s 102nd birthday. Both shows ran through 26th June 2022.