Revealing Familial Tales

“They didn’t know it at the time, but when New Zealand-born Chris and Peter O’Doherty lost their quietly spoken father 11 years ago, his story wasn’t over and theirs was about to take a few turns,” Steve Dow writes for The Age. “No strangers to life’s twists, the brothers — Chris long ago became known as Reg Mombassa — transformed early from arty nerds to famous musicians as founding members of pop group Mental As Anything, although their painting has provided a constant spiritual anchor. Their father’s secret life as a bigamist with a wife and child living on the other side of the world was revealed in the years after his death, and preceded a bout of song-writing by his sons that is revealingly autobiographical, culminating in last year’s well-received River of Flowers, their fifth album as Dog Trumpet, the duo they formed 21 years ago. And what of Jim after this hard life; did he engage with his sons’ music and art? ‘I think he was proud of it; he appreciated what we did,’ says O’Doherty.” Mombassa’s Coloured In exhibition, opened this month at the FortyFiveDownstairs Gallery in Flinders Lane, Melbourne and runs through July 9.


Tags: Age (The)  Chris O'Doherty  Mental as Anything  Peter O'Doherty  River of Flowers  

Amy Brown’s New Novel Inspired by Women and Art

Amy Brown’s New Novel Inspired by Women and Art

Like many writers before her, New Zealand-born Amy Brown takes inspiration from the Australian feminist icon Stella Maria Miles Franklin in her captivating debut novel My Brilliant Sister – but instead…