BARBARA MENDES

Barbara Mendes was born in 1948 and grew up in New York City. She started her career publishing stories and designing covers for an underground magazine before moving to California to study at UC Riverside. She created her style of “Epic Canvases” in her youth. Her style involves large canvases filled with hierarchical, narrative imagery and brilliant colors woven into intricate compositions. Multiculturalism and aspects of womanhood were popular themes in her paintings until 1992 when she was commissioned to paint a mural is an LA synagogue. This pushed her to explore her Jewish heritage and the study, practice, and celebration of Torah Judaism became the driving force behind her artwork.

Rather than mimicking a visual aspect for the eyes, Mendes’s paintings seek to mimic the hierarchical order of mental imagery. Each painting works to “portray the infinitely complex yet somehow order contents of a human mind, along with the mysterious but strong emotional and spiritual forces that compel so much of human kind” Source. Mendes holds firmly to the belief that art can and should positively influence the human condition.

Through her inspiration in the Jewish faith and community, her artwork allows her to reflect upon her Jewish experience and knowledge. As she grows, so do her paintings, and so does her audience. Her mission with her art is to inspire people and lead them closer to the awesome source of light and guidance that is Judaism. She currently owns and operates her own fine art gallery in Los Angeles where art collectors can collect and an audience can browse and find inspiration.