Born Christopher O’Doherty, Reg Mombassa is one of Australia’s most distinctive contemporary artists, with a practice spanning painting, drawing, printmaking, music and design. Alongside his work as a musician with Mental As Anything and Dog Trumpet, he has developed a major visual art career over several decades. His imagery is unmistakable: humorous, strange, spiritual and sharply observant, drawing together suburban life, the Australian landscape, folklore, politics and the absurd. Career highlights include becoming a finalist in the 2025 Archibald Prize.

Up the Golden Highway brings together works depicting the landscapes around Mudgee and Cassilis alongside the distinctive visual language that became synonymous with the Mambo label. These designs fuse bold cartoon-like drawing, suburban Australian imagery, surreal humour and sharp satire, often featuring recurring figures such as the carbone, robots, business horses and the irreverent icon of ‘Australian Jesus’. Through Mambo, Mombassa transformed surfwear into a form of popular art, blending larrikin wit with a distinctly Australian visual world.

Mombassa’s connection to Cassilis was shaped by his long association with the influential Sydney gallerist Frank Watters, at whose gallery he exhibited paintings, drawings and prints from 1975 until its closure in 2018. After the gallery closed, Watters returned to live in Cassilis, where he remained until his death in May 2020. Through this enduring friendship, Cassilis became part of the story of these works: a place of observation, memory and creative exchange that reflects the artists deep understanding of the Australian landscape.