Mel Ramos artworks and editions

Mel Ramos artworks and editions belong to the American pop art. He has spend most of his time reflecting the rising consumerism of the 1960ies and 1970ies. Mel Ramos refers to the astehtics of early advertising in terms of style and content. His figurative paintings are associated with the Bay Area Figurative School which was understood as a counter movement to the then popular abstract expressionism.

Mel Ramos exaggerates the combination of products and sexualised depiction of women in advertising. He therefore combines Pin-up-girls with products like doughnuts, cigars and liquor bottles. The reduction to these two elements reflects on the mechanisms used in adversitising until today. The reference to adverstiment can also be seen in his use of planar colourfields, simple forms and clear lines following the tradition of pop art.

Besides the combination of Pin-up-Girls and good, Mel Ramos portraited sexualized women in explicit situations with animals. An exhibition of these works in Collogne in the 1960ies brought him an exhibition prohibition. Mel Ramos is also concerned with art history and reinterpreted several artworks by the old masters in his unique style.