Articles

An insightful and offbeat retrospective of artwork from iconic Aussie surfwear brand ‘Mambo’, featuring branded merchandise: surfboards, sculptures, t-shirts, boardshorts, mugs(?), watches and posters. And a timeline charting Mambo's progress since its inception in 1984, and original artwork previously displayed at the Art Gallery of NSW and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Mambo have reinvented surfwear with their loud, colourful designs often informed by Australian history and reflecting on Aussie socio/political subject matter, avoiding surfie stereotypes. Based on a brash and irreverent philosophy and infused with a distinctly Australian sense of humour. But contributing artist Reg Mombassa reveals that he doesn’t like to surf and hates the beach! Astute satirism on a t-shirt. National Gallery of Victoria Studio, Ground Level, Melbourne until Feb 22 2015