Sydney, 6 September 2019: The iconic Reg Mombassa (Chris O'Doherty) and David Griggs are the latest award-winning artists to join The Clayton Utz Art Partnership, with their work featuring in the Partnership's fifth Sydney exhibition launched last night.
Over 200 people attended an exclusive cocktail reception to celebrate the launch and to view the new exhibition on Levels 14 and 15 of Clayton Utz's 1 Bligh Sydney home.
Reg Mombassa's name is synonymous with Australia's arts and music scene. He was a founding member of the iconic Australian rock band Mental as Anything, and has worked with Mambo Graphics designing t-shirts and posters since 1986. He exhibited paintings, drawings and prints at Watters Gallery from 1975 to 2018.
Seven times Archibald Prize finalist David Griggs has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and South East Asia, and is famous for his bold, anarchistic approach. David lived in the Philippines for many years and has created a significant body of work traversing painting, photography and film that reveals the social hierarchies and underground culture of his adopted home.
At the launch event, Australian broadcaster and accomplished landscape photographer, Richard Morecroft, was again on hand to lead the artists in a conversation about their work, and engage the audience in a Q&A session.
Clayton Utz Deputy Chief Executive Partner Bruce Cooper said the continued success of The Clayton Utz Art Partnership was reflected in the calibre of the artists it attracted as well as the rich conversations and connections it had created between Clayton Utz and its clients. "The Clayton Utz Art Partnership continues to deliver, by showcasing the work of Australian artists in a unique way and by giving our people and our clients an uncommon experience: the opportunity to enjoy world-class visual art on a daily basis in a setting different to the usual. We and our clients continue to enjoy the innovation of going beyond the ordinary."
The Clayton Utz Art Partnership is an innovative and industry-first collaboration between Clayton Utz and established and emerging artists, featuring new artists and their works every six months. The most recent Sydney exhibition featured the work of large-scale, abstract landscape artist Neil Frazer and contemporary painter Tell Tu'u. Previous Sydney exhibitions have featured Euan Macleod and Vanessa Stockard, Jason Benjamin and Nick Collerson, and Clara Adolphs and Wendy Sharpe.
The Clayton Utz Art Partnership is managed and curated by 3:33 Art Projects.
About the artists
Reg Mombassa (Chris O'Doherty) immigrated to Australia from New Zealand with his family in 1969. He attended the National Art School in Sydney in 1969-70 (returning in 1975 and obtaining a diploma of painting in 1977) and formed the rock band Mental as Anything in 1976 with four other art students. His first painting exhibition was held at Watter's Gallery in Sydney in 1975. In 1976, Reg began working as a freelance artist, designing t-shirts and posters for organisations including Greenpeace, the Rock Eisteddford, Circus Oz and the Opera House Trust. He has worked closely with Mambo Graphics since 1986. He has designed record covers for Crowded House, Mental as Anything, Dog Trumpet, Mondo Rock, Paul Kelly and John Lydon’s band P.I.L. His artwork is included in the permanent collections of the National Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of NSW and Powerhouse Museum.
David Griggs is a graduate of the University of Sydney's Sydney College of the Arts (Bachelor of Visual Art (Painting), 1999) and UNSW's College of Fine Arts (Master of Fine Arts (Sculpture), 2000). In 1997 he was awarded the Sir William Dobell Scholarship by the Sydney College of the Arts. He has been an Archibald Prize finalist seven times (most recently in 2018) and was a finalist for the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 2017. His work features in the public collections of the Queensland Art Gallery and GOMA in Brisbane, and Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art and Powerhouse Museum. He has held several solo and group exhibitions in Australia and internationally. David lived in the Philippines for many years, and is currently living in Sydney.