Major LGBTQ+ artist exhibition in West Hollywood
Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF) presents FXLK PLAY: Mythmaking, Devotion, and Mischief at Tom of Finland Foundation, its inaugural group exhibition of work by the more than 60 LGBTQ+ artists from around the world who have been granted residencies at the historic TOM House in Echo Park.
This exhibition celebrates fifteen years of artists-in-residence at Tom of Finland Foundation and frames TOM House as a living pantheon of Queer mythmaking. For over forty years, artists have passed through TOM House, not just drawing from Tom’s legacy, but reshaping it—bending it, stretching it, slipping into it. The exhibition proposes Tom of Finland as a modern folk hero, with his move to Los Angeles marking a shift from underground icon to something larger: a mythic figure whose image is continually rewritten through the desires, anxieties, and fantasies of Queer life today.
At TOM House, the artists-in-residence are at the center of this work. They don’t simply reflect Tom’s life, they continually remake it. In doing so, they become the orators of his evolving legacy, carrying it forward into the future. The title FXLK PLAY nods to this and to the role the Artists-in-Residence Program has played in shaping the Foundation.
FXLK PLAY: Artists-in-Mischief, Devotion, and Mythmaking is curated by LA based independent curator Jamison Edgar and features works from Tom of Finland Foundation’s permanent collection, archives, and selected loans.
FXLK PLAY transforms Long Hall into an immersive exhibition of painting, sculpture, and video that evokes the maximalist nature of TOM House and its world-renowned erotic art archive. The exhibition positions the Foundation as a living site of Queer mythmaking.
The exhibition is organized into three thematic collections and features an immersive installation of artists’ videos, a listening station with reflections from past residents, and a comprehensive timeline of TOM House from 1979 to 2026. The collections in the exhibition include:
- House of Gods highlights TOM House as a living archive of symbols and icons that artists-in-residence conjure through ritual, research, and creative practice.
- Pleasure Park champions queer desire, inspired by the gardens and intimate spaces throughout TOM House.
- Skeletons in the Dungeon examines the nuances of taboo, kink, and submission, as well as the resilience of artists-in-residence in the face of racist, transphobic, and homophobic violence.
Exhibition Manager: Catalina Bulgach
The exhibition runs 19th February–19th March
Thursdays through Sundays, Noon–5p
Docents on site
Fxlk Play Is Accompanied by Free Public Programs and Events All Month
Programs throughout West Hollywood, organized with local partners, reflect the Foundation’s commitment to welcoming all LGBTQ+ identities, ethnicities, and backgrounds.
FXLK PLAY Opening | Plummer Park
Thursday 19th February 2026
1200 North Vista Street, West Hollywood
