Beschreibung:

Mel Ramos The Pause that Refreshes 2007 polychrome resin 74.7 x 75 x 20.5 cm (29 3/8 x 29 1/2 x 8 1/8 in.) Signed and numbered 'Mel Ramos 4/8' right of figure. This work is number 4 from an edition of 8.
Provenance Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris Catalogue Essay Mel Ramos is a Pop Artist in the truest sense. Using the visual language of his native California, he critiques advertising and other forms of media, passing ironic comment on their clichés. The Pause That Refreshes is a vibrant expression of this aesthetic, redolent of the artist’s west coast milieu. The recurring motif of the female form is Ramos’ true focus. Seeing his work as a cultural observation on the ever-changing view of the female nude, Ramos, after visiting an exhibition at the Louvre commented “I remember a room that was full of nude paintings. They all had such a sheen of understanding, which impressed me enormously. It was an affirmation of my own work… I think that my real roots lie in the wonderful history of nude painting.” In The Pause that Refreshes we see a fantastic example of this cultural observation. The work uses the motif Ramos has become famous for; the hyper-stylised female nude and a Coca-Cola sign backdrop to reference popular culture in sixties America. However, the model is in a far more relaxed pose compared to the rigid, forcefully expressive poses of the adverts of 1960s media. Looking over her shoulder and away from the gaze of the viewer there is something more sensual about the work, suggesting the influence of the great form artists, not least Titian and Veronese, on the Californian. Read More