Mendelson Joe was a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, painter, and political activist who was noted for utilizing his work to emphasize political issues. He was born Birrel Josef Mendelson and died on February 7, 2023.
Mendelson Joe Obituary
He was born and reared in Maple, Ontario, graduated from the University of Toronto in 1966 with a B.A., and started playing music as Joe Mendelson in 1964. He teamed up with guitarist Mike McKenna to form the group McKenna Mendelson Mainline four years later.
The group was active until 1972 and temporarily reassembled in 1975. Joe started playing as a solo artist in 1975 after assuming his current name. He frequently worked with artists like Ben Mink, Gwen Swick, and Colin Linden.
Along with music, he started to establish himself as a contemporary artist, pursuing painting and frequently doing portraits of well-known musicians. His art was included in an exhibition in 1980 at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris, where it was coined “Dauntless Evidentiam.” In 1985, he displayed 25 portraits in a Joan Murray-curated exhibition titled “Working Women” at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa.
Joe prepared his own obituary and stated that Parkinson’s was a “dead end” for him. He expressed gratitude to Canada for legalizing medical assistance in dying, calling it “a sign of a civilized culture.”