Not quite so mental

His slight figure clad in a silver satin suit, long hair topped by a black beanie, Reg Mombassa entertained the eager crowd at my local art gallery with his laconic, larrikin wit, as he flicked through the slide show of his paintings, which are pictured in his newly published biography. Well-loved and remembered as a muso with the rock band ‘Mental as anything’, famous for his designs for the Mambo label and record covers for Johnny Rotten and Crowded House, Reg, who was born as Christopher O’Doherty in New Zealand, is also a renowned artist. His paintings range from:

• the sublimely ridiculous such as self-portrait with an ice-cream cone on nose – as he said what else would you do with such an item
• irreverent and often risqué pop art - sometimes mocking the relationship between Australia and New Zealand, the Crown, and making political but very humanist statements, to
• portraits and fine landscapes.

When he signed his biography for me with his highly unusual signature, he added a quip ‘Stop being naughty!’ which completely floored me.

For a review of his biography, The Mind and Times of Reg Mombassa, written by fellow painter, writer and former literary editor of The Australian, Murray Waldren, please go to my website.