What better way to celebrate an artist’s worldwide recognition than having their work on postal stamps, especially if it’s artist Touko Laaksonen (a.k.a Tom of Finland)? Well that’s exactly what his native Finland did in creating commemorative stamps featuring Tom of Finland’s homoerotic BDSM drawings.
Graphic designer Timo Barry had the challenging task of picking the right illustrations from Tom of Finland’s 3,500 archival drawings. Barry believes the stamps ‘portray a sensual life force + being proud of oneself’. These stamps definitely are all about being ‘proud’, but the sad irony of it all is how this Nordic country has yet to legalize same-sex marriage + requires surgical sterilization before people can legally change their gender.
The autumn-long release of 7 new sets of stamps from Posti (Finland’s version of the U.S.P.S.), will coincide with The Finnish Postal Museum’s exhibition of the artist’s letters from the 1940s until his death in 1991, opening in September.
(via OUT)