Mel Ramos: Girls on My Mind

The upcoming exhibition is dedicated to the renowned American artist Mel Ramos (1935–2018) and his iconic depictions of women that exist at the intersection of subtle eroticism, refined humor, and the visual language of consumer culture. As one of the key figures of American Pop Art, Ramos combined the glamorous aesthetics of pin-up imagery with motifs drawn from advertising and the world of brands, creating works that are both provocative and playfully ironic. His paintings reflect the ideals of beauty, desire, and the staged representation of the body in the era of mass media. Through technical precision and a characteristic lightness, Ramos developed a distinctive visual language that secured him a firm place within the context of postwar American art.

 

The exhibition brings together ten paintings from important private collections and thirty works on paper, offering a multilayered perspective on his artistic practice. From precisely composed canvases to rarely exhibited graphic works, the presentation reveals the breadth and complexity of Ramos’s oeuvre.

Girls on My Mind is not only the first solo exhibition of Mel Ramos in Eastern Europe, but also a curatorially conceived presentation with an international scope. It invites viewers to reconsider his work beyond simplified labels such as sexism or kitsch and to place it within a broader art-historical context. Ramos’s works are represented in leading international institutions, including the Albertina in Vienna and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.