Mel Ramos: 50 Years of Superheroes, Nudes, and Other Pop Delights

Mel Ramos, The Phantom Lady, 1963. Oil on canvas, 60 x 44 in. Leta and Mel Ramos Family Collection.JUNE 2 - OCTOBER 21, 2012

A Sacramento native and Sacramento State alumnus, internationally acclaimed Mel Ramos (born 1935) is one of the city's most celebrated artists. This is the first survey of his work in his hometown and follows his recent solo exhibition at the Albertina in Vienna, Austria. This exhibition showcases each of the artist's creative phases, including his Abstract Expressionist early works, his comic-book heroes from the 1960s, and the commercially inspired nudes that made him famous. The latter, which he started painting in the mid-1960s and continues to produce today, feature female figures wrapped lasciviously around giant Coca-Cola bottles, popping out of candy wrappers, and lounging on fresh fruit and a host of other consumer products. The exhibition also includes examples from the artist's series of art-historical tributes, in which he combines master works with sex appeal, as well as his lesser-known paintings of the California landscape and recent figurative sculptures.