Cliff Faces on the Headland at Palm Beach

About the Artist

Reg Mombassa

Christopher O'Doherty aka Reg Mombassa is a New Zealand born Australian musician and artist. He is known for his membership in bands Mental as Anything, Dog Trumpet and The Pinks. Reg has written, recorded, and toured with these bands. The Mentals released a total of 9 studio albums and Dog Trumpet has released 7 albums to date. Mental as Anything won an ARIA award in 1996 for Best Cover Art featuring Reg's artwork on their Liar, Liar Pants on Fire album, and in 2009 they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. He worked with Mambo Graphics designing t-shirts and posters since 1986 and exhibited paintings, drawings and prints at Watters Gallery from 1975 to 2018. In 2014 Reg was made a Fellow of the National Art School in Sydney. He is now represented by Diane Larter at Rogue Pop-Up Gallery. His diverse range of projects also includes taking part in solo and group art shows in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, USA, France, Britain, China and Thailand. He has had survey shows at The SH Ervin Gallery in 2007, the Manly Gallery and Museum in 2018 (with his brother Peter O' Doherty) and Ambush Gallery ANU Canberra 2019. Reg designed several props for the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, and in 2007 he was commissioned by Australia Post to design the "Big Things" stamp series. In 2008, as part of the Royal Australian Mint's Great Australian Artist series, a set of coins featuring Reg's iconic Kangaroo design were issued. His art appeared on another Royal Australia Mint coin in 2013 commemorating Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations, for which he was also the official Creative Ambassador, designing a series of graphics for the event. Reg has talked and showed his work with Semi Permanent in Sydney and Brisbane in 2011, Wellington NZ in 2013 and with Ted X in 2020 in Sydney. A biography 'The Life and Times of Reg Mombassa was written by Murray Waldren and published by Harper Collins in 2009. 'The Landscapes of Reg Mombassa was published by P.Q.Blackwell in 2016. His art is included in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Australia, National Portrait Gallery, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Powerhouse Museum, Melbourne Museum, National Art School, Macquarie University Gallery, University of Sydney Union, The British Museum, and many other significant private and institutional collections.