On the road again

When we would travel, Tony used to sing 'On the road again, ... making music with my friends'. This picture was made in Seville, Spain, putting on new strings. Music was part of his life and he painted many guitar players. A fast little drawing is shown here. The guitar is a delicate very light flamenco guitar, made in Montellano in the south of Spain. Posting will be erratic for a while, since I will be on the road... like a band of gypsy's going down the highway...

Horse

Although politically outspoken and a card carrying democrat, Tony couldn't be squared away in one or another political or stylistic direction. He was neither left nor right, he was catholic, needed a god but didn't think there was one, and stylistically he couldn't care less about directions in contemporary style. If he cared just a bit about something, then it was to bend the rules. I think in many instances he stayed close to the iconography as one finds in the Indian petroglyphs and on the ledgers of Plains Indians. He would always try to capture the soul, rather than the faithful 'realistic' image. Just as he did in this horse.

Abstractions

Tony often combined the figurative with the abstract, like here in the drawing Two guys. The front is, yes, a shirt but no it is just an abstraction for you the viewer to fill in. The second drawing is one of the few total abstractions you'll find among his work.

The press

For those who read Danish, an article from 1970. You'll find some of the names of famous owners of Tony's work and some information about his life and work. Tony had a dual relationship with the press: he enjoyed the attention but felt they should not write about the man -although he was flattered and needed to be liked- but the articles should be about the work. As you can tell in full Vietnam war, he did drawings about peace and never soft on his words his message still is: Fuck Hate!

Hopi 3

In this third drawing of the series of three, Tony shows a few telltale details of the constructions in the old pueblo's. The three generations, the maiden with her typical hairdo, the old woman and the grandchild express a continuity of culture. In the background he drew the Arizona canyons he loved. If I remember correctly these three drawings stem from 1998, after his last summer in Chloride.

Hopi 2

In the background you see the pueblos. The women wear the heavy dress and boots for dancing. They dance elegantly and the dress is heavy because they have to be reminded that they are not gods but from this earth... All that Tony Mafia put into these Hopi drawings.

Hopi 1

In the summer of 1998 I was doing a series of interviews with Indian women of different nations. Tony didn't like me being out on the road alone so we all (I mean that the two dogs went too) took a trip to the Navajo and Hopi Nation. He fell for all Hopi stood for and had a good time talking to a Hopi artist from the badger and butterfly clan. These are Hopi maidens with the typical butterfly whorl on top of the mesa, small kachinas surround them, yet they are wearing Navajo jewelry, which indeed they sometimes do.