Ross Mendes

1927-2001

Paintings and sculptures

Ross Mendes in 1964 (photos © by Desmond Bowes-Taylor)

Brief C.V.

1927 born Allan Ross Mendes in Toronto, Canada; 1951 first exhibition at the Toronto Art Gallery; lived for 2 years in Montreal before returning to Toronto in 1954; left Canada for Spain in 1957; married Phyllis Bagley in Palma de Majorca, Ibiza, 1957, where he lived and painted before moving to London in 1958 where daughter Tanit Ann was born; in 1963 he emigrated with his family to South Africa, first settling in Cape Town, then moving in 1965 to Johannesburg.

Ross Mendes, his wife and their 4 children returned via Ibiza to Toronto, Canada in 1967; Ross Mendes continued to work as an art director, started to teach at Toronto’s York University and the Cambrian College. From 1972 Ross Mendes instructed at the Ontario College of Art and Design for 23 years.

He was an art critic for The Cape Times, Cape Town, the Canadian Forum and ArtsCanada.

In his younger days, Allan Ross Mendes created comic books, designed sets and later worked in advertising. He designed the record cover “Themes from Great Motion Pictures” for Solitaire Records, Toronto ON in the 1950s.

The site http://rossmendes.ca/, a website formerly maintained by his Estate, has not been functioning since 2015.

Selected Solo Shows in South Africa

1964 The Strand Galleries, Cape Town – 2^nd June

1965 SA Association of Arts, Cape Town – 29^th March to 10^th April

1965 Gallery 101, Johannesburg – 7^th September (14 paintings) (opened by Dr R.H. Marks)

Link to Gallery 101 invitation card - 1965

and

Catalogue (part) of Gallery 101 exhibition in 1965

Selected works on the Gallery 101 exhibition in 1965

“Window”, 1965 - acrylic – 99x99 cm by Ross Mendes (cat. 5) in private collection B.G., Cape Town

"Woman in the Bath" I. - acrylic - 102x152 cm - 1964/1967

This work is illustrated © in b/white as cat. 2, 1964 in the Gallery 101 Johannesburg exhibition catalogue from 1965 and was minimally reworked by the artist and re-dated 1967, now in the University of Leeds Art Collection

"Flagscape", 1965 - oil/canvas - 89x99 cm

This work is illustrated © in b/white as cat. 10 in the Gallery 101 Johannesburg exhibition catalogue from 1965, now in the University of Leeds Art Collection

View 2 other paintings exhibited at Gallery 101 Johannesburg in 1965 by clicking on these links (black/white images):

"Woman drying her hair", 1964 - oil/canvas - 99x89 cm - cat. 3

"Gold tree", 1965 - oil/canvas - 84x100 cm - cat. 7

Selected Paintings in Public Collections

University of Leeds Art Collection and Gallery, Leeds U.K.

11 works

and others

16 paintings by Ross Mendes in their collection per http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/ross-mendes

A further selection of paintings could be seen until 2015 on the artist's website

http://web.archive.org/web/20110310072646/http://rossmendes.ca/

http://web.archive.org/web/20110310072842/http://rossmendes.ca:80/01gallery.htm

Other works - sculptures

1991

Selected Publications

Drian Galleries, London (“Sculpture Constructions Paintings by 7 Artists”) 1-19 August, 1963

The Cape Argus, Cape Town – 9^th June, 1964 (“Mendes abstracts enhance life”, ill.) (Neville Dubow)

Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg – 9^th September, 1965

S.A. Financial Gazette, Johannesburg – 17^th September, 1965

The Star, Johannesburg – 10^th February, 1966 (“Another artist heads for Med.”)

Updated on 8th May, 2017

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