Mel Ramos  (American, 1935) 

Mel Ramos (American, b.1935) is a Pop artist famous for his comic-book like images of naked, voluptuous females. Born in Sacramento, CA, Ramos studied art at Sacramento State College, where he met and studied under Wayne Thiebaud (American, b.1920), who would become a lifelong friend. Ramos taught for several years in the Bay Area before garnering fame in the early 1960s. His work appeared alongside Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923–1997) and Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987) at a Pop Art show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1963. In 1965, he first developed his most notable works depicting nude pin-up girls alongside mass-marketed products. In works like Butterfinger (1995) and Lucky Lulu (1965), Ramos coupled youthful, ironically perfect female bodies with candy bars, cigarettes, and other branded items. His pieces are well-known for exploring the ways in which modern culture has cast the female body as interchangeable with beauty and consumerism. He has also superimposed his trademark females on famous nudes from art history and classical mythology.

Ramos has exhibited internationally and been featured in numerous museums, including the Whitney and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He has also held teaching positions at California State University, Syracuse University, and the University of Wisconsin.