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2008/10/20 Poster, 'Mambo Interstellar Anthropology', offset print, paper, designed by Reg Mombassa for Mambo Graphics Pty Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2001. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 1, 2008/10/20 Poster, 'Mambo Interstellar Anthropology', offset print, paper, designed by Reg Mombassa for Mambo Graphics Pty Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2001. Click to enlarge

Poster, 'Mambo Instellar Anthropology', by Reg Mombassa for Mambo Graphics

Designed
Established in 1984 by Dare Jennings and Andrew Rich, the Mambo label began as a backyard business screenprinting T-shirts for a small niche market in surfwear. The mix of surf culture, art and music influences resonated with Australian youth who loved the notoriety and controversy the designs characteristic of Mambo aroused in conservative middleclass Australia. The designs were vibrant, humorous, irreverent and of questionable taste but had broad appeal with youth both in Australia and …

Summary

Object No.

2008/10/20

Object Statement

Poster, 'Mambo Interstellar Anthropology', offset print, paper, designed by Reg Mombassa for Mambo Graphics Pty Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2001

Physical Description

Poster, 'Mambo Interstellar Anthropology', offset print, paper, designed by Reg Mombassa for Mambo Graphics Pty Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2001

Poster with image that depicts a dog and an alien in a blue uniform sitting on the grass in a suburban backyard, reading a book open on a double page headed Sweden and USA. Text includes 'Humans / are idiots / Mambo / Interstellar Anthropology / a space-monster studies the world book of soiled toilet papers (leather-bound edition)'.

Marks

Included in printed text at base of poster; 'Mambo Graphics 2000' and 'Reg Mombassa'.

Short URL

https://ma.as/373079

Dimensions

Height

990 mm

Width

690 mm

Production

Designed

Made

Notes

The poster was designed by Reg Mombassa for Mambo Graphics in 2001.

Mambo was established in 1984 by Dare Jennings and Andrew Rich as a backyard business screenprinting T-shirts. Artists are commissioned to produce designs that are duplicated on Mambo products. It became a large commercial clothing and textile manufacturer with an annual turnover of more than $10 million. Mambo products are sold in Japan, America, Europe and New Zealand. As well as furniture and clothes, Mambo designs and graphics are mass produced on surfboards, surfbags, posters, CD covers and in ads.
In 2000 Jennings and co-founder Andrew Rich sold the company to Gazal corporation, a Sydney based clothing manufacturer which had manufactured and distributed Mambo clothes since 1990. This left Jennings and his artists more time to be creative and let others worry about the business and its risks.

Artists represented in this collection include Reg Mombassa, David McKay, Gerry Wedd, Maria Kozic, Jim Mitchell, Paul McNeil, Seenu, Richard Allan, Marcelle Lunam and Jeff Raglus. Their work expresses the obligatory irreverence one has come to expect from Mambo graphic design.

Reg Mombassa, alias artist, writer and musician, Chris O'Doherty (b. 1951) began his association with Mambo Graphics in 1987. Reg created a number of Mambo characters that have become iconic symbols of Australian irreverence like his 'Australian Jesus'. Born in New Zealand, Reg first came to prominence in Australia as a founding member of Australian rock band 'Mental As Anything'. Referred to as a 'modern day Renaissance Man' Reg's list of professional credits is impressive. Artwork by Reg is included in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, The Art Gallery of NSW and the Powerhouse Museum. He has held several successful one-man exhibits and designed the 'Heroes' segment of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony and the poster for the 2000 Paralympics Arts Festival as well as the 'Loud Shirts' (Hawaiian shirts) worn by the Australian Olympic team at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney.

Source

Credit Line

Gift of Mambo Graphics Pty Ltd, 2008

Acquisition Date

21 January 2008

Cite this Object

Harvard

Poster, 'Mambo Instellar Anthropology', by Reg Mombassa for Mambo Graphics 2022, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 1 June 2023, <https://ma.as/373079>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/373079 |title=Poster, 'Mambo Instellar Anthropology', by Reg Mombassa for Mambo Graphics |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=1 June 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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