As a Dutch-Jewish artist and Northwestern neurobiology and physiology researcher, Bert Menco may seem like an oxymoron.

His paintings, some of which are currently on display at the Gallery Mornea, 602 Davis St., are awash with bright colors but the petite, soft-spoken man usually wears only black.

In his office, the desk is the only office-like feature. The rest is a carpentry studio.

Some of his favorite pieces by other artists are focused on Christianity, a contradiction to his religious background.

And when Menco takes a break from studying the cell biology of smell and taste, he puts the finishing touches on a print or painting.

“I like the contrast of science and art,” Menco said. “There’s a curiosity aspect to both.”

Menco will give a lecture tonight at 7 p.m. at the Gallery Mornea about his works. He said he hopes it will bring more art awareness to Evanston.

“The community seems unsupportive – it’s hard to maintain a decent gallery,” Menco said. “And an academic community like this deserves it, too.”

Menco is a strong advocate of art appreciation. Most of his talk will be devoted to discussing the various works and artists that have influenced him since childhood.

“Isn’t it magic?” Menco said as he pulled up a picture of a work by Northern Renaissance painter Gerard David on his computer. “I can’t paint like him, but it’s so good.”

The artist has been displaying works since his first show in Israel in 1969. In 1982 Menco came to the United States to work at NU as a non-tenured researcher, still creating and showing his work all over the world. He currently has a grant pending to continue his study of the molecules involved in smell perception.

Although it’s hard for Menco to designate a single artistic inspiration, he said his pieces are all very dreamlike and often influenced by imagination. Sometimes, he said, he doesn’t know what he intends to create.

“A lot of them just grow,” Menco said. “The image comes as I start drawing. I start with little sketches and they seem to combine themselves.”

Menco said the nature of his art changes a little with each life experience.

“It’s become more complex, more sober, more sparse,” Menco said. “I’m not as easily satisfied.”

In fact, Menco seems more inclined to art appreciation, which he said is the main reason he’s giving tonight’s lecture: to generate support for the gallery. He calls Diane Thodos’ pieces, which are displayed in the front room of the gallery, “dense” and “striking” – a nod to his admiration for his longtime colleague’s work. According to gallery owner Richard Davis, Menco plays a major role in its long-term success.

“When Baghdad fell in the summer of 2003 and the museum was looted, Bert came to us and said, ‘We as artists need to do something,'” Davis said.

So Davis, Menco and gallery owner Michael Monar organized a benefit with more than 90 participating Chicago artists, including Ed Paschke, an NU art professor and renowned Chicago artist who died in November 2004. The event raised enough funding for a computer database which documented every missing piece – possibly as many as 10,000 items, Davis said.

Monar said he expects about 50 to 100 people for tonight’s lecture and said Menco is one of the gallery’s “main protagonists.”

“I hope (the lecture) will give people a greater breadth of experience,” Monar said.

Reach Kristyn Schiavone at [email protected].