THE DREAMER (RED KNIGHT)

THE DREAMER arrives as the emotional second act of Pepenardo's diptych, and it is the more unsettling of the two. The Green Knight is gone, absorbed. The Red Knight is still here. He dreams. Something in him survives the market's claim on his attention, and Pepenardo is not sure whether that is a mercy or a problem. The chromatic shift does all the work. Red armor in the Western tradition carries heat, passion, sacrifice, the body in full expenditure. In the contemporary trading screen it means loss, descent, the number going the wrong way. Pepenardo refuses to choose between these readings. Both are present. The warmth of the color and the weight of what it signifies in finance sit together in the paint, unresolved. What distinguishes Pepenardo is that the conceptual architecture never overwhelms the craft. The linen holds light differently than canvas. The impasto in the armor catches and releases it. These are paintings that reward proximity, that ask to be stood in front of, that change as you change your position. BMAG is proud to present THE DREAMER alongside THE DREAMLESS as the centerpiece of the MEMETIKRON collection, and as one of the defining works of this auction house's program.

Oil on linen. 30 x 39.5 inches. Unframed. Part of a diptych with THE DREAMLESS (GREEN KNIGHT). Ships from Nashville, TN. Framing, insurance, and international crating available on request. Condition report available to serious inquiries prior to purchase.