Mel Oldom‘s style defined the 70s and 80s and vice versa. You might know it from his vintage posters, book covers, a line of Paper Moon cards, and First Eyes, his first book. Odom’s work has appeared in a variety of magazines over the years, like Time, the now-defunct Omni, Rolling Stone, and the 80s gay classic, Blue Boy, but his favorite work was for Playboy. His illustrations earned him multiple awards from The Society of Illustrators and other graphics and illustration organizations. In the 90s, Mel expanded his reach and channeled his passion for dolls into his faux movie star doll from 40s “Gene Marshall” and she was a big hit in the doll world, voted by collectors the most important doll since Barbie. But as a gay man, to me, his retro-sexy guys were always his most interesting contribution to art –like a Deco Tom of Finland. Here are some hotties for you to ponder. You can see many more and even buy works on Mel’s new site here.
