Venu Menon

I grew up immersed in the vibrant colors of every-day life, movies, festivals and art.  While I have now lived in the US for over thirty years, these early influences still reflect in my paintings, which explore themes of life, death, joy and spirituality. 

In my Synthesis series I explore the juxtaposition of personal stories with the anonymity of daily life, conveying emotion while not being descriptive. Themes of dissolution, rejuvenation and continuity are in evidence.  In these paintings, I use very light touches of paint, seeking to minimize dominating personalities, while at the same time revealing their diversity.  In the Dancers paintings, I have captured six well-known dance forms from India.  Besides the dynamic movements and postures, these paintings reveal the colorful costumes of these ancient art forms.    

My Abstract work involves spontaneous shapes and contours often using broad brushes with oil, acrylic, ink and palette knife.  In the Mysterious Universe series, I have used art to reflect on some of the mysteries of nature. Why is the speed of light constant through all of space? Why is Pi an irrational, never-ending number, when the circumference and radius of a circle are finite? Why is 96% of space a mystery, filled with dark matter and dark energy that humans have yet to discover?   

A famous sage once said “in matters of opinion, flow like the river, but in matters of principle, stay firm like the rock” – an excellent guiding principle to live by. In my Landscape body of work, I contrast this flow of rushing water and the transitory nature of life with the still firmness of rocks.    

With a PhD in Chemical Engineering, I serve as Vice President for Technology Development at Texas Instruments Inc.  I love the creativity and innovation that comes from working at the cutting edge of technology.  This in turn feeds my creative endeavors in art, my left brain seeking to be in harmony with the right brain, the objective in harmony with the subjective.

I have served on the board of trustees of the Dallas Museum of Art (2009 to 2015), providing my insights at the intersection of art and technology. Working with art lovers and philanthropists on the board of the DMA, I have in a small way, helped Dallas become a better place for the arts.  I also serve on the boards of the Texas Instruments Foundation, the Semiconductor Research Corporation and Chinmaya Mission DFW.