Gebo

In the spring of 1971 Tony Mafia had an exhibition in Gebo Gallery in Antwerp. The picture on the invitation was a larger canvas with a boy in the foreground. I read it as a Native American family contemplating the plain and the river. Lots of grays and blues.

Alive

This little pen and ink drawing from November 1990 was probably done in the States but feeling blue for Antwerp. You see the city in the background. It shows one of Tony's recurrent themes: the art coming alive, taking off of the page: set free from art folder is what he wrote with it. Nice tribute to a city and its pretty ladies. Notice the harlequin and the musician in the drawings in the background? Tony Mafia had the blues...

The red apple

Arthur wrote: The Auction that I bought the painting at was an estate auction, I did not meet Tony nor the previous seller, I just fell in love the painting. All my friends love the painting as well. I do not know the name of it and it would be great if I did.
There is a riddle in the back on the painting that reads:
A Mistery
A Secret
A thing
for to
find
Tony Mafia
80
My comment: What a nice surprise. It is for sure a real Tony Mafia. Everything tells me so: the skies, the circles in the tree, the horses, the elongated figure, and the twist of he holding the apple of seduction... Waw. I am falling in love with this one too. I think but this is not the gospel that she is a portrait of his girlfriend at the time 1980 might have been Gina or Sue, both brunettes and pretty. I am falling for this painting too.

Zandvoort

The drawing is on a monoprint, something Tony used to do in the late sixties and sometimes when he felt like it. The drawing is from 69 and the invitation from a show of almost a month in Holland in 68.

The ascension

The ascension of Christ is a real large canvas more than 2 meter by 2 meter. It depicts several scenes of the old and new testament: The opening of the Red Sea, the taking off the cross of Christ, Mary Magdalen bending over with her hair and Mary almost cartoonish. As I have written before Tony struggled with his faith, hoped there would be a god, but not realy count on it. In his worst moments of fear he prayed. He had asked for a catholic funeral and there have been services in Hoboken and in Arizona. He was always sincere when painting, the canvas and the result on it is what mattered most.

The caling of color

This was a drawing Tony cared about. The full text is: To say the calling of paint would be to tell you of them that live in and around color. It is obviously a self-portrait while at work on a canvas. It also shows his beloved nudes and the black sun that is his secret Native American signature.

Going Dutch

These are two invitations from the period Tony mafia lived in Holland with his then family, hence the mother and child. The second invitation is for a show on the Rosengracht in Amsterdam in the Karel Ruiter Gallery. It states that Tony's work is to be found in different collections among others in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. So this corroborates Tony's story.

Lone lonely I wander

The photograph is Tony on the middle mike, either with 'The Men' or with 'The Association' at Doug Weston's 'The Troubadour'.

The text round the drawing is from a song Tony wrote:
Lone lonely I wander
a grey grain in the sands of time
dark clouds and thunder call from the night
looking lonely for some one to love
as I love thee
But lonely I wander
Lonely I wander
an endless hum in the melody of time
a breeze blown from the sea
laughing crying called to me
looking lonely for someone to love
as I loved thee
But lonely we wander

Alleen eenzaam dwaal ik
een grijze korrel in het zand van de tijd
donkere wolken en donder roepen uit de nacht
eenzaam zoekend naar iemand om lief te hebben
als ik jou lief heb
Maar eenzaam dwaal ik
Eenzaam dwaal ik
een eindeloze zang in de melodie van de tijd
een bries aangewaaid uit de zee
roept mij lachend schreiend
eenzaam zoekend naar iemand om lief te hebben
als ik jou lief had
Maar eenzaam dwalen wij

Drumming you up

A mixed medium drawing with a lot of writing around it. Some of it about the pale rider, death. I o not know what happened March 17 in 1987, maybe another heart episode e was trying to forget in a girls arms. Part of the text: I can only tell you a story are you to ??? of a blue eyed mermaid and or and to return a nine mile under a PAIL pale pael rider to carry my soul to peace as sound the drum of never. Yes fear of death often accompanied Tony, looking for redemption, or peace of mind.

Nude Moon

To say that Tony was not one who loved the night sky would be wrong. As a kid, I always remember when my father and I would visit Tony and Annmarie in Chloride, we would always stare at the sky's and talk for hours. Somewhere deep down in my heart I sort of feel tony painted pictures by forming his own figures in the sky. I do remember him asking me what shapes I saw in the sky one night, though sadly I don't remember much else that night.
posted by Windsong. Nude Moon is a painting from 1975.

Music in Antwerp

I met Tony Mafia back in the summer of 1982 when I was busking my way around Europe for my first time. Amazing as it sounds I had the fortune of meeting him on the second day of my adventure. I had crashed on Pete Punkers spare mattress and in the morning he took me to the café in this picture Billenkletser . I am the one cut off and behind us is Mike Stone from Manchester. That same morning Derroll Adams wandered by and joined us and I didn't know either one of these guys but they were both dropping names like they really knew all these famous people. I ended up staying around Antwerp for a few weeks just to find out what kind of musical Mecca I had found. Tony was the driving force to keep me around he kept trying to talk me into making a singing cowboy band. Ha! He was famous for dropping a beat every once in awhile which drove me crazy- but you had to love being around him anyway. Tony was such a magical man. Wish this could be sound as well because I have a recording of him singing "Georgia" and "On the Road Again"

I am looking for a way to post the music... 5 songs... help!

Dambruggestraat

David's words: Now for these two pictures of a mural Tony painted on Vera Singlyn's wall sometime in the 90's. He was hiding out there for awhile and everyone in the house was fixing the house up so Tony pitched in and did his share by painting this mural while everyone else was working.
Unfortunately this house is empty and has had a fire so I think these two photos are all that is left of that piece of art. This was Tony's way of teaching about impermanence. The last few pilgrimages I made to Antwerp and to see Tony he became my teacher of life. He would talk with me about how fleeting fame really was. How fame and disgrace are so close they were really two sides of the same coin.
Tony was like nobody I had ever met. He was truly and inspiration to be around. I loved him like a father.

Comment: I am immensely pleased these pictures showed up, the writing around the mural is mine. We both signed it.

Steve Stein Gallery

This great oil with horses and nudes has been shown in Steve Stein's Gallery in Los Angeles. It is more European in style, breaking up the big canvas in smaller paintings that are incorporated in the total composition. When I asked him one day why he did that Tony answered: I won't have the time to paint them all...