Pepenardo

“Viral internet memetics represent digital transcendence and elevation from nothing. As crypto artists, we act as cypher-alchemists in a sense. We become what we meme.”

Mining images from the internet, mass media, and art history to create physical oil painted and digitally manipulated works, Pepenardo (also referred to as Nardo) seeks to define the role of internet memetics within the context of contemporary art. Through classical applications and digital language, his paintings and installations explore themes of appropriation, metaphysics, and folklore.

Pepenardo spent over a decade working within the traditional art world before pivoting to a pseudonymous role after encountering Cryptoart through the underground collective known as the Fake Rares on Counterparty.