The Landscapes of Reg Mombassa Book Review

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The Landscapes of Reg Mombassa – Book Review



I love The Landscapes of Reg Mombassa and I was pleasantly surprised to see his technique is diverse yet distinctly his own. I hope this book gives him long overdue credit for his talent as a painter.



Reg Mombassa was a founding member of Mental as Anything and creator of iconic designs for surf wear company Mambo. His work is instantly recognisable and highly compelling, but he has a number of different styles which you won't identify as surf wear design. His artwork ranges from acrylic, oil, charcoal, coloured pencil and house paint to collaborative etchings.



Reg grew up in rural New Zealand and then moved to Australia where he began documenting the landscape. When he toured around the country with his bands, Metal as Anything and later Dog Trumpet, he carried a sketchbook with him and drew the view, often from cars and buses on the road.



His dedication has resulted in over 200 iconic landscapes and these have been collated together to produce this beautiful hardcover book. His images sometimes have a political slant or social message, but mostly he has captured our antipodean landscape with a deceptively simplified style. I adore his paintings of Australian houses.



I appreciate seeing how his artwork has matured and changed direction over the years. As a painter and mixed media artist myself, this is what every artist dreams of achieving – an original style and a good body of work.



I hope The Landscapes of Reg Mombassa will catapult this underappreciated artist to the place he deserves in the history of modern Australian painting.

The Landscapes of Reg Mombassa is available in hardcover from your favourite bookseller.

ISBN: 9781743792674
Published by Hardie Grant Books

About the Author

Born in New Zealand in 1951, Chris O'Doherty, otherwise known as Reg Mombassa, emigrated to Australia with his family in 1969. After graduating where from the National Art School in Sydney in 1975, he formed rock band 'Mental as Anything' in 1976 with four other art students which went onto release 11 albums and 27 singles, with 20 entering the top forty. Reg began working as a freelance artist in 1976 and he has worked closely with Mambo Graphics since 1986 designing t-shirts and posters. His first painting exhibition was held at Watter's Gallery, Sydney in 1975 and he has had numerous one man shows at Watter's ever since. His artwork is included in the permanent collections of The National Art Gallery, Canberra, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Powerhouse Museum of NSW and the University of Sydney Union.

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