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Mel Ramos ( 1935 )

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Mel Ramos made hyperrealistic paintings , but if i had to decide what kind of artist he was , i would rather say he was first and foremost a Pop Art artist.

Ramos is best known for his paintings of superheroes and voluptuous female nudes emerging from cornstalks or Chiquita bananas, popping up from candy wrappers or lounging in martini glasses.

Ramos was among the first wave of Pop Art artists who gained recognition for their art. His art was hidden for a long time for us dutch. No publications were available and the nude paintings/illustrations we had in magazines over here were practically all done by Alberto Vargas, the famous Playboy illustrator, but none by Mel Ramos

Ramos received his first important recognition in the early 1960s; since 1959 he has participated in more than 120 group shows. Along with Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, he was one of the first artists to do paintings of images from comic books, and works of the three were exhibited together at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1963. Along with Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, Tom Wesselman and Wayne Thiebaud, Ramos produced art works that celebrated aspects of popular culture as represented in mass media. His paintings have been shown in major exhibitions of Pop art in the U.S. and in Europe, and reproduced in books, catalogs, and periodicals throughout the world.

PS. i started to write this blog knowing for sure i had a great publication on Ramos in my stock, but unfortunately it was sold some years ago and it is not available any longer at www.ftn-books.com

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Giovanni Nicolai (continued)

nicolai xx

Here is my 3rd input to my FTN blogs on Giovanni Nicolai. We developed a very more than friendly contact and this time we helped each other. Giovanni paid with some of his drawings part part of his invoice with 3 new drawings to our collection. 3 beautiful drawings were added. I learned to appreciate his drawings and paintings over the last year. Since he expressed his interest in his fellow artist Massimo Rao (1950-1996), who we both admire, i traced his works and found them interesting, original and classic  all at the same time with a very personal approach to drawing. His classic men’s heads look to be rooted in the 17th century, but they are not , these drawings are classic drawing of  modern perhaps a little androgyn men. If you are interested please let me know and i will gladly supply you with the information i have on this contemporary young italian artist… and now the 3 new drawings.

nicolai x

 

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Julian Opie (1958) ….between Pop Art and Minimalism.

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Stylized paintings are a trademark of Julian Opie. In the Netherlands one would compare him with Joost Swarte who uses a thick outline for his drawings. With this he emphasizes his compositions and makes it look stylized, but still realistic.

He is a very influential figure on the British art scene in the 1980’s who created humourous art. His sculptures have been said to be a cross between architecture and art. His portraits had a pop art feel to them and his most famous piece is probably the cover of a Blur album. Julian Opie’s work is extremely distinctive and although many people have created pieces of work inspired by him, you can always tell that his work has been made by him from the block colors and simple facial features and the thick black lines. His minimalist portraits are so unique because of the simplicity of them.

On the left there is an example of Opie on the right there is an example of Swarte.If i must describe the portraits by Opie…these are simplified portraits of the essence of a face The same technique as Joost Swarte uses but less realistic and more suitable for the use in comics and illustrations.

www.ftn-books.com has some Julian Opie titles available

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Walace Berman (1926-1976)

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You have to dig in a little deeper to appreciate the art of Wallace Berman. Wallace Berman a Collage artist who was of great influence to 60’s art in California.

He was an American visual and assemblage artist and  has been called the “father” of assemblage art.

I started to take an interest in Berman when i first acquired an impressive title on Berman at a huge discount at de Slegte bookstores in the Netherlands. They had stacks and stacks of these books , because the Berman ICA exhibition was not popular at all and many of the printed books were unsold. Published in 1992, it is now 25 years ago and has not lost its importance. This is an excellent book on Berman and shows the qualities of Berman as an Underground artist and the publisher of the ground breaking magazine Semina of which only 9 issues were published .

This excellent Berman book which was published with the Berman / ICA Amsterdam exhibition was printed by the best printer (Lecturis), has an excellent design and typography and is considered by me as one of the best exhibition publications in the Netherlands from the 90’s.

 

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Sjoerd Buisman (1948)

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Another artist that you learn to admire over time. I encountered Buisman and the work he made for the first time when he covered the sides of the pond of the Gemeentemuseum  with willow branches . I could not find a photograph of it , but the effect is like the project with the Museum in Assen where he build a structure with willow branches.

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The project in the beginning looked like nothing , but because i worked at the museum i could literally see the growing of the project. Leaves were sprouting and the branches became leaved branches over time forming new branches to the existing ones and in the end there was a solid flat hedge of green surrounding the left pond of the Gemeentemuseum. It was a little like magic and the only elements needed. branches, water and sun developing in something spectacular. This was the first reason to admire Buisman and since i am almost always impressed with his projects. Less with his sculptures, but that is personal.

There are 2 Buisman publications available at www.ftn-books.com

the HollandseMeesters series presented Buisman in the Series.