WWW.VINNYS.NET Presents TAVA'S PIER MURALS

Tava's Pier Murals At Vinny's

Tava's pier murals were painted in the
nineteen-seventies and eighties
along the outer walls and interiors of the
Abandoned West Side Piers
and above the infamous

"Trucks"
[see photo]

under the abandoned elevated highway that was left
empty after the Henry Hudson Parkway was revamped.

Actually, it would be inacurate to
describe the piers as abandoned.  Perhaps
I should say they were
abandoned
by the ocean liners
of the previous decades. 

They were occupied, in fact,
overpopulated by half-naked, or totally naked,
horny men looking for other
horny men.

or

were these guys just

innocent sunbathers?
[see photo]

----

Tava, running somewhere?
[see photo]

Tava loved to paint
the Interiors Of
The Abandoned Piers!
[see photo]

Below Is A Photo Of
The Guardians Around The Tomb Of Harmodius
(Circa 1978)
Permission was graciously granted
by

Lee Snider/Photo Images 
New York, New York

to show this photo.

Thanks Lee!

 

Tava Painted Dressed In A Jock Strap And Boots
[see photo]

Permission was graciously granted
by

Stanley Stellar Post Cards
120 Hudson Street
NYC 10013

to show this fabulous postcard he made for Tava
on this web page.

I thank Stanley very much
and look forward to getting together to
discuss the possibility of showing or selling
more of his work through these web pages,
if we both survive longer.

And Tava Painted Completely Naked, 

See Tava's Print # 42

He would climb a twenty-to-thirty foot
ladder and transform the corrugated
iron, or concrete blocks, into huge,
colorful murals
-- depicting man's
unique relationship with other men.

 

These enormous phalocentric murals,

like the photo showing the abandoned Henry Hudson Parkway
elevated highway (circa 1976),

caused quite a stir in
their day. 

The other murals facing the Hudson's Jersey shore,
could be seen clearly by the passengers on the famous

"Circle Line" Boat Tours,

and hence created a controversial "scandal" for
more conservative residents of
New York's Greenwich Village. 

One friend told me that when he and
his mother rode the "Circle Line,"
the tour boat would purposely
show tourists the Jersey side of the Hudson,
and avoid the huge paintings of
two men pointing their
gigantic cocks
toward the naked men tanning in the sun.

Actually Tava painted these figures as
Space Visitors with Laser Guns
and changed them into Huge Cocks Later
when everyone observing though that's what they were!

[see Tava's Print 1]

----

As I said in the Introduction to Tava,
in the early years of our relationship,
Tava and I argued about
philosophy and jealousy. 
With age, I have dropped
a lot of my "Catholic Guilt Complexes"
and realize more of the basic truths in
Tava's Concepts,
even if I don't agree 100% with all of them.

I do respect these ideas more than ever. 
I wish I had more knowledge
about them during the years
before I met the artist.

I do know Tava was influenced by both

Neel Bates,

and

Tom of Finland,

of course!

Both artists can be experienced through the
Leslie Lohmann Art Gallery, New York City. 

Tava in turn influenced

Keith Haring's early subway graffiti,
 
and in some degree, today's
Lower East Side muralist,

Chico.

He disagreed strongly with

Robert Mapplethorpe's

portraits of men eating shit out of dog dishes
because of health concerns for our community --

Tava felt the photographer introduced
unnecessary diseases and made them "acceptable" to the gay community.

Tava probably felt very strrongly about this
because his themes were based on
early "primitive
Papua New Guinea men
only sharing oral or anal sex in their sexual
rituals -- never mixing both --
as I described in the "Innate sections" of this web site.

Although Tava's art before I met him escapes me,
I can relate some anecdotes about his work while I was with him,
and try to remember stories I've heard from
other men familiar with his art. 

I have alluded to some within the descriptions
of the Prints, for example Print # 8 is from the
first Sleaze Ball Party at the Underground Club
on Union Square
[see Tava's Print #8]

Other famous places like

The Mine Shaft,
[see Tava's Print #19]

are also described or depicted in his work.

I vividly remember
helping him drag two huge,
still wet backdrops
for the Gilgamesh Opera
[see Tava's Print #53]

portrayed by

Larry Ree (Madame)

and

John Kelly
 
at the then

"New" Pyramid club,

minutes before the curtain
was to go up. 

We screamed at each other the
entire length of Seventh street
getting it there on time for the show.  

The curtains later hung at our parties,
which were the longest running get togethers
in one location in New York City,
for Seventeen Years!

We felt that the city has once again become very boring, since 9/11 and have resumed our get togethers to promote Tava's art once again - see info on bottom of each page
----

I also remember the time Tava won the first prize in

The Monument Redefined Exhibition

that transformed a brooklyn dump into a gallery
of the best art produced by some of the

Most Famous & Best Artists

of those times (mid to late 1980's).

Tava's

Mural of the Tomb of Harmodius
[see Tava's Print #32]

won First Price

Over the famous "wrapping" artist

Christo [2nd prize],

who later did the Orange Cloth

"Gates"

In Central Park.

Tava and I argued about rushing to finish that
piece on time, as well,

[see Tava's Print # 69 - "The Kiss"]
From The Monument Redefined Exhibit Circa 1985.

But making up was
always

Sooo good!

----

I've included other photos of Tava,
Max's Kansas City, the piers, etc.
For your enjoyment below!

----

I wonder if Tava's paintings
would produce the same reaction today --
In Me, as well as, The Community -- during this change of millennium?

As I ask in the "Conceptual Section"
Of this website:

How far have we come?

How far do we still have to go?