PUNK ME
TENDER
Punk Me Tender (born Romain Lefebvre, 1980s, Paris, France) is a French-born, Los Angeles-based artist whose practice traverses the liminal space between street art, fine art, and digital media. His work interrogates the boundaries of artistic expression through a synthesis of raw urban aesthetics and refined materiality. After immigrating to Los Angeles in the early 2000s, he apprenticed under Thierry Guetta (Mr. Brainwash), collaborating for over a decade and contributing to the evolution of contemporary street art’s visual lexicon.
Characterized by bold chromaticism, dynamic spatial compositions, and evocative imagery, Punk Me Tender’s oeuvre explores themes of beauty, desire, and transgression. His artistic vocabulary is informed by the dialectical tension between street culture and haute couture, drawing inspiration from designers such as Alexander McQueen and Jean Paul Gaultier, as well as contemporary artists including Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Salvador Dalí. This interplay between the ephemeral and the constructed manifests in his work as a synthesis of subversion and opulence.
His mixed-media practice is rooted in spontaneity yet exhibits meticulous craftsmanship. Utilizing freeform spray paint, three-dimensional sculptural elements, diamond dust, original photography, and high-gloss embellishments—such as Swarovski crystals—his work navigates the intersection of materiality and illusion. By challenging conventional hierarchies of artistic production, Punk Me Tender destabilizes distinctions between street art and fine art, offering an immersive sensory experience that redefines the aesthetics of contemporary visual culture.