Poison

In 1998 there was a major flood in Antwerp and surroundings and our address having been Lageweg 431 in Hoboken we were thoroughly flooded out. Tony saved the two dogs floating on a chair after coming home from the hospital and the factory must have opened some lines which they shouldn't have. The result was a poisonous slme, sludge clearly visible after pouring out od the factory. This paper was tainted by it and Tony painted the appropriate subject on it: Poison. He cared about nature, was a fisherman and wanted the water to be clean. He wasn't the best recycler though. He also loved his cars, the excuse being his getting out of breath when walking too far. This piece was in the retrospective of Hoboken 'A brush'.

Children of a clown time

This is the oldest work I have by Tony Mafia. First we knew him as a singer/busker in Antwerp. He knew how to seduce a guitar. In August 1968 we met him with his wife and young son in the market. He invited us over and we admired his drawings. That was the day of the beginning of a collection. This is a mixed medium. The text reads: The children of a clown time stand alone to remove the false, to grab at any bud or blossom, to stay his weight, some to compare and to find one or the other of a less or unfulfilled promise, still alone to sit and dream of a tomorrow spring.

Yellow sweater

The yellow sweater I have worn for a long time, the skirt I still have. Sometimes Tony was very realistic even if one doesn't expect it from his wilder work. This is a '93 oil painting. I like the vanishing point in the landscape. It was a fairly good time.

Tearing skull

Among the garbage in the street Tony picked up a canvas and painted this amazing piece. You will see when you click to open the picture that the faces are compositions of other figures that landscapes and humans flow together. Tony was in that time (1998) fascinated by the form of drops of water. He probably was also depressed on and off and thus tears appeared on his canvasses. Here is the combination of tenderness and sadness, tranquility and a tearing skull.

Out of step with the band

Tony and I felt usually out of step, out of sync with the two worlds we were living in. I think that Obama Barack's victory would have really pleased Tony Mafia. He was a democrat at heart and a member of the party and had been at the first march between Selma en Montgomery. He told me about the German shepherds chasing the people. I wonder what he would have painted about this feeling of relief. I am sure he would feel even more patiotic now. The painting from 1997 was shown in Leonhard's and Lineart in 1998.

The moonbathers

The moonbather is a 1998 large oilpaining, shown at Leonhard's Gallery in Antwerp. Enjoy the swirling night sky, the people on the beach and those in the water. See the embracing couple? See the banana moon? One of Tony's lighthearted works...

The lizard

The lady with the lizard over her shoulder also holds, or is part of, an egg shaped form filled with people. I love the colors, the contrast between the straight, stark lines and the gentle flow of the figurative work. Lizards are an important symbol in Native American iconography. It represents purity. This is one of Tony Mafia's late works, but it bears no date and was painted in Hoboken.