MEL RAMOS (1935-2018)

Mel Ramos is a California based Pop artist best known for his paintings of superheroes and female nudes, including Marilyn Monroe and Scarlet Johansson, with pop culture imagery. Many of his subjects emerge from Chiquita bananas, 100 Grand Bars, and M&M bags, or lounge around large Coca Cola bottles, or cigarette boxes.

Ramos emerged from the 1960’s Pop art movement through his appropriated imagery from mass media and pop culture – his paintings of women reference the sensuality of pin-ups and Playboy spreads, while commenting on clichés in advertising.  

Ramos has participated in over 120 group shows in the US and Europe since 1959, with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, and others. His artwork is featured in permanent collections internationally, including the Whitney Museum of American art and Neue Galerie Stadt Aachen, Germany. The Crocker Art Museum hosted a retrospective of over 50 years of his artwork in 2012