Skeleton Fish

In July 2023 an auction of giant inflatable things happened online. In amongst the big gorillas, hot air ballons emblazoned with the words SALE, and the car lot wavy men, was a lot described as “Skeleton Fish”. Its style looked very familiar to me but there was no information about what it was and where it came from. There was only one other bidder, but they weren’t very serious, and I obtained this large piece of art for a very small amount.

I suspected that it was the work of artist/musician Chris O’Doherty (AKA Reg Mombassa). To the general public he is most well-known for his work for the surf-wear brand Mambo; yet he is also a two-time Archibald Prize finalist and the creator of many fine Australian music albums covers, as well as thousands of paintings and several books.

The inflatable had the oversized red tongue, luscious red lips, and the almost blank-but-weird expression that feature heavily in Reg’s work, but there was no paperwork, labels, or any other way of tracing it’s provenance. I initially guessed it may have been a marketing prop for a retail outlet, but I was wrong.

After a bunch of research and several emails, it came to light that the skeleton fish was one of Reg Mombassa-designed Australian icon art works that paraded around the track during the 2000 Sydney Olympics closing ceremony, to the delight of 2.4 billion people. How it escaped being snatched up by a museum or gallery (the Powerhouse does have several pieces from the closing ceremony) and ended up in an auction of bits-and-bobs is still a mystery.

As part of the Fish On Roof exhibition this giant art work will be displayed on the facade of SPACE, a not-for-profit social enterprise art gallery in Coonabarabran from September 1st, 2025, as the major exhibit.  The exhibition explores the Skeleton Fish motif in Mombassa’s work since the 1990s up until today. Fittingly, the inflatable will come down on the 1st of October 2025, exactly 25 years to the day after it made its triumphant debut and then disappeared.

Allison Reynolds (Curator)