A leading figure in the West Coast Pop movement, American artist Mel Ramos (born 1935) blends sex and materialism in an openly raunchy iconography of liberated allure, everyday myths and the synthetic dreams of the advertising world. He first gained notoriety in the 1960s for his “commercial pin-ups,” voluptuous nude women draped over brand-name commercial products such as processed cheese, toothpaste, candy bars, soda pop and cigarettes. He continues to expand on this series today, now working in sculpture and tapestry in addition to painting and printmaking, variously incorporating the faces of famous actresses as a reflection of our celebrity-obsessed culture. This catalogue is the first to focus exclusively on Ramos's drawings. It includes sketches and drawings from the 1960s to the present day.
Featured image, Mel Ramos' Lola Cola, 1967, is reproduced from Mel Ramos: 100+ Drawings.
"One of the aspects of Mel Ramos' art that was neglected for a long time is his drawings and acrylics. They are among the finest and most beautiful contemporary works created. Here Mel Ramos is the Old Master very easily forgotten due to the erotic triviality of the motifs. Mel Ramos sometimes traces the pencil more lightly, at other times with more virtuosity, shaping the body with subtle shades of grey. In these drawings Mel Ramos shows that he is exactly the kind of traditionalist who was able to contribute so much to the postmodernist version of Neo-Pop."
FORMAT: Hbk, 6.75 x 9.5 in. / 128 pgs / 113 color / 30 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $39.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $53.95 ISBN: 9783866784444 PUBLISHER: Kerber AVAILABLE: 9/30/2011 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA ME
Published by Kerber. Edited by Thomas Levy. Text by Klaus Schröder.
A leading figure in the West Coast Pop movement, American artist Mel Ramos (born 1935) blends sex and materialism in an openly raunchy iconography of liberated allure, everyday myths and the synthetic dreams of the advertising world. He first gained notoriety in the 1960s for his “commercial pin-ups,” voluptuous nude women draped over brand-name commercial products such as processed cheese, toothpaste, candy bars, soda pop and cigarettes. He continues to expand on this series today, now working in sculpture and tapestry in addition to painting and printmaking, variously incorporating the faces of famous actresses as a reflection of our celebrity-obsessed culture. This catalogue is the first to focus exclusively on Ramos's drawings. It includes sketches and drawings from the 1960s to the present day.
