Bert Menco made his living as a scientist (Northwestern University's Department of Neurobiology and Physiology where he was employed as a Research Associate Professor). However, he has been making art all his life. In addition to drawing and painting, he works in intaglio printmaking, etching, drypointing and mezzotinting. He has exhibited widely and won several awards, among them a Sponsor's Prize at the Third Sapporo International Print Biennale (1996, Japan). His work was included in The Best of Printmaking, An International Collection, Rockport Publishers, Gloucester, MA, 1997. He has had numerous solo shows and his work is represented in more than fifty public and private collections. His art is insofar affected by his, now former, research activities, that the often-tedious discipline needed in research is also used in his art; reaching the final image is like a research goal. His dreamlike images tend to deal with confined spaces containing certain characters that reach out to one another but do not quite succeed in meeting.

SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS

2011, 15 - Artist Residency: Guanlan Original Printmaking Base, Shenzhen, China

2008, '14. 15 - Artist Residency: The Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL

2013 - Materials Award, Boston Printmakers 2013 North American Print Biennial, Boston, MA

2012 - Third Prize: “Imprima 2012, Mostra Internacional de Gravura”, Sobral, Brazil

1996 - Sponsors' Prize: 3rd Sapporo International Print Biennale, Sapporo, Japan

1995 - Award of Excellence: 12th North Shore Art League Midwest Print Show, Chicago, IL

SELECTED ONE-AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2013 - “Bert Menco, Dutch-Chicago Interactions”, Fireplace Gallery, The Art Center, Highland Park, IL

2012 - “Works on Paper”, Oxalá Gallery, Chicago, IL

2010 - “Rendezvous Show by Seven Artists from Six Countries” (individual shows),

Colapasta in Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

2002 - “Images from Beyond”, Libreria San Pantalon, Venice, Italy

2001 - “Portraits of the Soul”, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014 - “Franz von Bayros (1866 -1924) and Others”, Musée de l´Erotisme, Paris, France (travels to China and Poland, 2015)

2014 - “7th International Printmaking Biennial of Douro, 400 Artists - 800 Works - 70 Countries”, various locations, Portugal

2013-14 - “Strong Water 4”, The Etching Guild, Riga, several Latvian locations, Jurmala & Riga, Latvia

2013-14 - “4th Lessedra International Painting & Mixed Media Competition”,

2013 - “The “Iosif Iser” Contemporary Print Biennial Exhibition 10th Edition”, “Ion-Ionescu” Art Museum, Ploiesti, Romania

2013 - “Boston Printmakers 2013 North American Print Biennial”, 808 Gallery, Boston University, Boston

2012-13 - “Figurism: Narrative and Fantastic Figurative Art from the Illinois State Museum Collection”, Illinois State Museum, IL

2012 - “Recent Works of Resident Artists in Guanlan”, Guanlan Printmaking Base, Shenzhen/Lingshi-Shanxi, China

2012 - “Imprima 2012, Mostra Internacional de Gravura”, Escola de Cultura, Comunicação, Ofícios e Artes, Sobral, Brazil

2011 - 25th Sint-Niklaas Printmaking Biennial: Celebration”, International Ex-Libris Center, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

2005 - “Rotterdam Geraakt”, Museum Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

1996/2000 - 3rd & 5th Sapporo International Print Biennales, Hokkaido Museum

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

2013 - In: Nuno Canelas: “Global Print 2013”, Nucleo de Gravura do G. R. Cultural de Alijó, Alijó, Portugal

2012 - In: Francisco Lara Mora, Clemente Barrena: Sobral, Imprima 2012, Sobral,

2011 - In: “Feest”, 18de Internationale Exlibris en Kleingrafiekwedstrijd, International Ex-Libris Center, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

2010 - In: “Rendezvous Show by Seven Artists from Six Countries”, Colapasta in Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

2000 - In: Ivy Sundell, “Art Scene, Chicago 2000”, Crow Woods Publishing, Evanston, IL

1997 - In: Lynne Allen, Phyllis McGibson, Ruth Weisberg: “The Best of Printmaking”, Rockport Publ., Gloucester, MA

ARTICLES:

Brazil: Dégagé; Italy: Venezia News; Japan: Hokkaido Newspaper; Latvia: Chas Daily; South Korea: Art in Culture; The Netherlands: De Gelderlander, NIW; UK: Coventry Evening Telegraph; US: Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune, Evanston Review

SELECTED PUBLIC AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL; College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL; Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL; Guanlan Original Printmaking Base, Shenzhen, China; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan; Hyundai Arts Centre Gallery, Ulsan, South Korea; Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL; ECOA, Sobral, Brazil; Internationaal Exlibriscentrum, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium; “Ion-Ionescu” Art Museum, Ploiesti Romania; Joan Flasch Artist’s Book Collection, School of the Art Institute, Chicago, IL; Koehnline Museum of Art, Des Plaines, IL; Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; Museum Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands