John Mendelsohn

John Mendelsohn: Shimmer and Blur

When I went to John Mendelsohn's studio for the first time, I was immediately attuned to his paintings as coming from similar sources. He had enjoyed my relating Katia Santibanez's work and the grid to the Egyptian god of the Nile and abundance, and the first landscape architecture. Underlying all of his paintings is an interest in the very fount and source of things.


Tantra means "weave." The chakras, an ancient system of energy centers in and about our bodies, are as spools, providing yarn that forms the warp and woof of our consciousness, our "tapestry", so to speak. The chakras (belongingness, sensuality, empowerment, love, communication, clear thinking and seeing and spiritual connectivity) thread through our lives. Consciously woven into our existence, we weave a magic carpet with balance, integration, beauty, harmony and expansion for individuals, relationships and humanity.
The seven main body associations, the origin spools, for the chakras are: perineum, genital, solar plexis, heart, throat, brow and crown.

When I spoke with John on the phone, he said he didn't know that tantra means "weave" although he knows his history of textiles inside and out - we have corresponded about the origins of Op Art in the Optics of playing with the the weave, and Ikat has been another thorough investigation. He is also a contributor of articles to the Jung archives, so it would be appropriate here to quote Duchamp when asked if he was an alchemist - he replied "the only way to be an alchemist in these times is wIthout knowing it."

The only way to be a tantric artist in these days is without knowing it.




1) Fall, 6, 7, 8, acrylic and latex enamel on canvas, 51"x30", 2005

2) Shift 4, 5, 6, acrylic and latex enamel on canvas, 51"x33", 2004

3) Phase 4, 5, 6, acrylic and latex enamel on canvas, 49"x35", 2004

4) Fall 6, acrylic and latex enamel on canvas, 51 "x30", 2005

5) Frequency 2, acrylic and latex enamel on canvas, 49"x33 5/8 ", 2008

6) Frequency 4, acrylic and latex enamel on canvas, 49"x33 5/8 ", 2008



John's statement:


"These works have faith in art’s capacity
to embody a sense of our lives in material, abstract form."





































































In the Heart Thread