Carlo Ramous was born in Milan in 1926; he attended the Liceo Artistico at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Bologna, and then continued his studies at the Brera Academy with Marino Marini and Giacomo Manzù. At the Brera Academy, in 1946 he exhibited his first anthropomorphic work freely inspired by Boccioni, Fontana and Melotti.
He soon established himself on the Italian abstract sculpture scene. In his works, dynamic tension and plastic presence coexist; geometric spatiality is partially exalted and contradicted by a skilful play of balances capable of challenging the heaviness and rigidity of the materials used, such as wood and metal.
Solo exhibitions are organised all over the world in the most important museums and galleries. Some of the places include Milan – Galleria Il Milione (1956), Geneva – Galleria Jolas (1971), Milan – Piazzetta Reale (1974), La Spezia – Anthological exhibition at the Centro Allende (1977), Gubbio – Anthological exhibition. Twenty years of sculpture (1987).
His works also appear in solo exhibitions and major international shows: Biennale di Venezia in 1958, 1962, 1972; Biennale di San Paolo del Brasile in 1961; Quadriennale di Roma in 1955, 1959, 1973; Triennale di Milano in 1954, 1960, 1964; Biennale Internazionale di Anversa in 1965 and 1973; and other internationally renowned exhibitions from Paris to Tokyo, Rome to London, Oslo to Milan, New York to Antwerp, Alexandria to Teheran, Mexico City to Budapest, L’Aquila, Zurich, Cologne, Nuremberg, Berlin to Sydney, The Hague, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Dusseldorf, Los Angeles, Lagos, etc. .
Among the museums that possess his works are: Villa Giulia Museum of Modern Art in Rome, Cà Pesaro Museum of Modern Art in Venice: Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan, Colgate Museum in New York, Middelheim Museum in Antwerp, Forma Viva Museum in Portoroz, to name but a few.
The most attentive critics have dealt with his work, Trier, Dorfles, Russoli, Gassiot-Talabot, Valsecchi, Elgar, Ashbery, Ballo, Leveque, Carandente, Alvard, De Micheli, Welcher, Crispolti, Coulan, Natali, Gualdoni, Bettolini, are just a few.
In addition to countless group and collective exhibitions, he has executed numerous large works for architecture, including: the church of Santa Marcellina in Milan; the church of Don bosco in Milan; the Imprimerie Cino del duca in Blois (France); the sculpture in front of the school in Viale Marche in Milan; and numerous sculptures for schools in Italy and in hospitals in Pordenone and Como.
His works become progressively more aerial, ideograms or signs in three dimensions that find their way into urban contexts. “The environment is important, and only in function of it does the artist assume his own identity.” (Alessandro G. Amoroso). Among the sculptures that have left an indelible mark in his hometown are “Finestra nel cielo” (1968) in Piazza Miani, “Gesto per la Libertà” (1972) in Piazza della Conciliazione, and the “Monumento ai Caduti dell’ Isola” (1972) in Piazzale Segrino, as well as the monumental “Ad Astra” (1992), a stainless steel complex almost 12 metres high, weighing 7 tonnes installed in Chou Park in Chiba City, Japan.
In the 1980s Ramous elaborated his ongoing research in numerous series of sketches, made of zinc sheet metal, real studies for large realisations. They are small structured elements, where the plastic form dissolves in its spatial and fantastic negative, for a new oscillation of the overall image. He died in Milan in 2003.
Since 2 November 2006, he has been among the well-deserving members of the famed at the Monumental Cemetery in Milan.