Mambo poster designed by Reg Mombassa
Object No. 97/96/7
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 middle class Australia. Mambo designs were vibrant, humorous, irreverent and of questionable taste but had broad appeal with youth both in Australia and overseas. The disintegration of accepted motifs and conventions, the portrayal of anti-realist and anti-rational popular iconography combined with imagery typifying Australian suburbia dominate Mambo designs. These designs reveal that beneath the humour and amusing parodies, lies incisive insight, sympathy and expression of serious social concern. In parodying society's sacred cows, artwork created for Mambo in visual and linguistic form, challenges existing social mores while simultaneously providing a public forum for talented graphic artists to exhibit their work. This is one of an many Mambo posters in the Museum's permanent collection which are significant for the contribution they and Mambo Graphics made to Australian popular culture.
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Summary
Object Statement
Poster, 'When your shoes are this nice - one is too many', paper, designed by Reg Mombassa / Mambo Graphics Pty Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1991
Physical Description
Image depicts a giant one-legged, three-eyed man wearing an enormous lace-up red brogue striding across a surrealist night landscape crushing cars in his path. 'Mambo' on red background is printed in lower left corner and Reg's signature hugs the curve of the hill.
DIMENSIONS
Height
650 mm
Width
485 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
Reg Mombassa was Mambo's principal and most famous designer whose signature style has defined the company since the mid-1980s. Reg Mombassa/Mambo Graphics P/L, 1991
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Mambo Graphics Pty Ltd, 1997
Acquisition Date
11 April 1997
Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.
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