Guy Hepner Gallery

Punkmetender Before the Gaze (The Origin of the World) For Sale

Punkmetender
Punkmetender - Before the Gaze (The Origin of the World) , 2026, Archival pigment print on canvas, individually hand-embel...

Before the Gaze (The Origin of the World) , 2026

Archival pigment print on canvas, individually hand-embellished and completed with handwritten epoxy resin| signed and dated

24x24 in.

Edition

Edition of 7 + 2 AP

About this work

Before the Gaze (The Origin of the World) Punkmetender Punkmetender has emerged as a distinctive voice in contemporary art, developing a practice that bridges digital innovation with traditional craft. The artist's work interrogates themes of perception, embodiment, and art historical dialogue, positioning them within a generation of creators who refuse to accept boundaries between mediums or eras. Before the Gaze (The Origin of the World) presents a striking meditation on vision, vulnerability, and the act of looking itself. The composition centers on a reclining female figure rendered in luminous flesh tones against an enveloping darkness, her form partially obscured by flowing auburn hair that cascades across the frame. The figure's hands are raised to her face in a gesture that suggests both concealment and revelation, while her gaze—directed outward through parted fingers—establishes an unsettling reciprocity between subject and viewer. The title explicitly invokes Courbet's notorious 1866 painting, yet Punkmetender redirects the confrontation from body to face, from passive display to active surveillance. The draped crimson fabric anchoring the lower portion of the canvas reinforces this art historical conversation while grounding the work in painterly tradition. Each work in this limited edition of seven, with two artist's proofs, receives individual hand-embellishment by the artist, ensuring that no two pieces are identical. The application of handwritten epoxy resin adds dimensionality and a material uniqueness that elevates the archival pigment print beyond reproduction into the realm of singular object. Each work is signed and dated by the artist. Guy Hepner invites collectors to enquire about availability and acquisition of this compelling work.

Price on Application

Edition & Provenance

Year
2026
Medium
Archival pigment print on canvas, individually hand-embellished and completed with handwritten epoxy resin| signed and dated
Edition
Edition of 7 + 2 AP

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Before the Gaze (The Origin of the World)

About Punkmetender

Roman Lefebvre is a French multidisciplinary artist based in Miami. Born in Paris and shaped by nearly two decades in Los Angeles, Lefebvre played an integral role in developing the visual identity, design language and studio practice of Mr. Brainwash during the formative years of his international career. He is featured in the Academy Award- nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop and worked alongside Banksy and other influential figures of the international street-art movement.

Under the name Punkmetender, Lefebvre subsequently established an independent international practice spanning painting, sculpture, installation and large-scale public work. His works are held in prominent private collections internationally, including those of a member of the Getty family, Mariah Carey, Khloé Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Dave Navarro, among others.

Now working under his own name, Lefebvre is expanding his practice through digital film and Membrane, a materially layered series examining perception, memory and the unstable boundary between image and reality. Moving between contemporary digital figures and historical imagery transformed through oil painting, abrasion, handwritten language and transparent epoxy resin, his work explores how beauty is preserved, disrupted and reinterpreted across time.

Available through Guy Hepner in New York.

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