Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is an artist and musician. The O'Doherty family came from New Zealand to Sydney in 1969, when Chris commenced study at the National Art School. In 1976 he became a founding member of Mental as Anything, one of Australia's most successful bands. All the band's original members are visual artists including O'Doherty's brother Peter, with whom he formed the band Dog Trumpet in 1991. From 1976 O'Doherty designed prints for the surfwear label Mambo, devising the flatulent dog, demons and incarnations of 'Australian Jesus' in distinctively Australian settings that also recurred for many years in his paintings. His work Bush Suburbs was printed on the lining of the Australian team blazer for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and several of his creations featured in the closing ceremony of the games. Over the past two decades, he has participated in many group shows and held several solo exhibitions at Watters Gallery, Sydney, becoming well known for his evocative landscapes and views of workaday dwellings.
O’Doherty has been painting self-portraits since he was fifteen. This irreverent example, painted in his trademark comic-book colour and quirky perspective, shows he is not afraid of making fun of himself.
Purchased with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2007
© Chris O'Doherty
Chris O'Doherty (age 52 in 2003)
National Portrait Gallery Circle of Friends (8 portraits supported)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
An interview with iconic Australian artist, Chris O'Doherty (otherwise known as Reg Mombassa)
Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is best-known for his Mambo imagery but he also paints a lot of self portraits.
