Reg Mombassa: The temptation (Hunter Valley) 2007 limited edition (100) digital print 30 x 38.7cm LINK
The inspiration behind Mambo was the same as the artists mentioned above, relating with viewer’s personally, and perhaps with conflict. The graphics are placed on surfboards, t-shirts, caps, bags, ceramics and more and sold in over 30 stores in Australia and around the world. There are several artists that create Mambo Graphics. Chris O’Doherty a.k.a. Reg Mombassa has a Robert Crumb likeness to his work that is illustrative, surreal, and has truthfulness to it that is communicated in a comical style. I believe these artists are followers of the art that was created first by Matisse. They wanted to step out of the normal way of creating, and have fun with the limitless ways of thinking about art while causing some discomfort with their viewers. Mambo is deliberately vulgar in its content and visual expressions, and yet is a well established and organized Australian company that has been around since the 1980’s. Their desire is to “destroy popular culture in order to save it”, much like what the artists Matisse and Johns were doing. They took risks by breaking the rules that that the art institutes set for artists and gave art new meaning. They created work that made people think.
The company affirms that the intent of Mambo is to “attack religious intolerance” (p. 128, Designing Pornotopia, Poyner). To make such a statement is saying that if one is religious, then you are intolerant of other people’s views. This idea that religion is not open to other people’s views is intolerant in itself.
On page 129, Poyner exclaims, “The whole point of ‘Mambo Theology’ is to attack religious intolerance. Mambo supports groups such as Greenpeace, the AIDS Trust of Australia and a Sydney support center for victims of drug and alcohol abuse, and makes forthright statements about Australian Politics on its website.” God does all of those things, accept maybe the last one. It was Mambo’s intent is to “get a rise” out of people who are religious. To make us feel uncomfortable. They made me feel a bit uncomfortable by expressing their “Theology” so that I would relate with Mambo personally.
