Featured Artists
Selected from the archives of RoB Gallery and Tom of Finland Foundation, these artists form the foundation of ICONS OF DESIRE; an exhibition exploring the images, bodies, fantasies, and aspirations that shape our understanding of desire.
Spanning drawing, photography, and figurative art, their works challenge conventions while celebrating beauty, identity, intimacy, and self-expression.
We will reveal the contemporary voices joining the exhibition who are continuing this dialogue across generations, at a later date.
Tom of Finland
Tom of Finland was the pseudonym of Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen. Born in 1920, he became one of the most influential figures in queer visual culture through his iconic drawings of confident, hypermasculine men. His work helped redefine gay representation in the postwar era and became synonymous with the aesthetics of leather, fetish, and sexual liberation.
Tom of Finland maintained a long association with RoB Gallery, exhibiting in Amsterdam in 1978, '80, '81, '82, '83, '85, and '87, as well as at RoB Gallery New York in 1981.
For ICONS OF DESIRE, we are presenting a selection of original work and exhibtion posters from the archives of RoB Gallery & Tom of Finland Foundation.
Nigel Kent
In 1978, Nigel Kent began producing homoerotic drawings under the pseudonym James D. After meeting RoB, he was quickly invited to stage his first exhibition at RoB Gallery.
What followed was a steadily expanding exhibition history: first throughout the Netherlands, then across Europe, and ultimately in the United States.
ICONS OF DESIRE reunites audiences with works that have remained unseen since the 1980s.
Bastille
Bastille was the pseudonym of the late artist Frank Webber. Born in New Jersey, in 1929, he studied illustration at Pratt Institute in New York before moving to Paris.
Webber began producing homoerotic drawings in the late 1960s. His highly explicit and uncompromising depictions of male sexuality gained wider recognition in the 1980s through exhibitions at RoB Gallery in Amsterdam and New York.
For ICONS OF DESIRE, we are presenting a selection of gouache paintings from the archives of RoB Gallery.
Bill Ward
Bill Ward was a British artist born in London in 1927. After a career in commercial illustration and children's comics, he began producing homoerotic drawings that would establish him as one of the most distinctive figures in queer graphic art.
From the 1970s onward, Ward's work appeared in influential British and American gay publications, including Drummer magazine, where his iconic character Drum became widely recognised. His bold depictions of hypermasculine men and leather culture earned him an international cult following.
For ICONS OF DESIRE, we are presenting a selection of original works by Bill Ward from the archives of RoB Gallery.
Erwin Olaf
Erwin Olaf was one of the Netherlands' most celebrated photographers. Born in Hilversum in 1959, he first gained recognition in the 1980s with bold and provocative images that explored sexuality, identity, and the LGBTQ+ experience. His distinctive visual language would later earn him international acclaim as both an artist and commercial photographer.
In 1992, RoB published a landmark catalogue featuring Olaf's photography, helping to shape the visual culture of the international leather community.
For ICONS OF DESIRE, we are showing a selection of these iconic catalog photographs by Erwin Olaf, made for RoB.
A Legacy of Queer Visual Culture
The artists represented in the RoB Gallery collection played a significant role in the emergence of queer visual culture during a period when LGBTQ+ artistic expression was often censored or excluded from mainstream institutions. Their work documents changing attitudes toward identity, sexuality, community, and freedom while contributing to the broader history of contemporary art.