Mel Ramsden

Mel Ramsden is a British artist who was born in 1944 in Ilkeston, England. He is best known for being one of the founding members of the conceptual art group Art & Language.

Ramsden studied at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and then at the University of Birmingham. In the late 1960s, he became involved with the group Art & Language, which was founded in Coventry in 1967. The group was interested in exploring the relationship between language and art, and their work often involved texts, diagrams, and other forms of language-based art.

Ramsden was a key member of Art & Language, and his work with the group focused on exploring the limitations of language and the role of language in art. He was particularly interested in the ways in which language can be used to convey meaning, and he experimented with different ways of using language in his art.

In the early 1970s, Art & Language became increasingly interested in Marxist theory, and Ramsden's work began to reflect this interest. He started to explore the political implications of language and the ways in which language can be used to reinforce power structures.

Ramsden's work has been exhibited widely in Europe and North America, and he has been included in exhibitions at the Tate Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. His work is held in many public collections, including the Tate Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Today, Ramsden continues to work as an artist and is based in London. While he is no longer associated with Art & Language, his work continues to explore the relationship between language and art, and the political implications of language in contemporary society.