Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “This Is Darkness II (Gold)”
Summary
A circular tondo composition rendering a chaotic tangle of nude, faceless combatants in flat black and metallic gold against a black ground, with one figure thrusting a sword or blade into the melee. The roundel format and locked-limb wrestling directly evoke Greek black-figure vase painting, a hallmark of Peterson's brutal allegories of human violence and the abuse of power.
Why It Matters
This print distills Cleon Peterson's central project: showing civilization as a thin veneer over predatory brutality. By staging the violence inside a vase-painting tondo, he ties contemporary aggression to antiquity, suggesting the cycle of dominance and bloodshed is ancient and unbroken. The metallic gold edition adds a sinister, almost gilded-relic quality, turning a scene of slaughter into something that reads like a looted classical artifact. It is a strong, graphically aggressive example of the stripped-down black/gold palette that defines Peterson's most recognizable work.
Collector Perspective
This is the Gold colorway of This Is Darkness II, a 2017 screen print in a small edition of 28, typically hand-signed and numbered by the artist. Editions this tight sit well below Peterson's larger open-palette runs and his Fairey-collaboration drops, making it considerably harder to find on the secondary market. As a low-edition, format-driven (circular, gold) piece it appeals to collectors chasing the scarcer variants rather than the entry-level Peterson buyer. Realistic positioning is a desirable but niche edition where price is set more by scarcity and condition than by broad name recognition.
Historical Context
Produced in 2017, during the period when Peterson's reputation was cresting on the back of high-visibility museum and gallery shows and his ongoing collaborations with Shepard Fairey. The work belongs to his mature vocabulary of flat, propaganda-clean figuration drawn from Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art. The circular "vase-roundel" compositions and the recurring darkness theme recur across this era of his output, with color and metallic variants (here, gold) released as small parallel editions.
FAQ
What does This Is Darkness II (Gold) depict?
A circular, vase-painting-style scene of nude, faceless figures locked in violent combat, with a blade driven into the central tangle. It is an allegory of human aggression and the abuse of power rendered in flat black and metallic gold.
What is the edition size?
The edition is 28.
Is it signed and numbered?
Works in this series are typically hand-signed and numbered by Cleon Peterson; buyers should confirm the signature and number on the specific impression.
What is the medium?
It is a screen print, dated 2017, in the Gold colorway.
Who is Cleon Peterson?
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) is an American artist known for stark black/white/red/gold scenes of violence, power and social conflict, drawing on Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art, and a frequent collaborator of Shepard Fairey.
Related Works
About the Artist
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) is an American artist known for stark, high-contrast scenes of violence, power and social conflict, rendered in a flat, limited palette of black, white, red and gold. His chaotic compositions of fighting, clubbing and writhing figures expose the abuse of power and the brutality beneath civilization’s surface, drawing on classical Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art. A frequent collaborator with Shepard Fairey, he shows internationally; his prints, sculptures and editions are widely collected in the urban-contemporary market.
Collecting Cleon Peterson at Gauntlet Gallery
Where can I buy authentic Cleon Peterson prints?
Gauntlet Gallery offers an extensive, authenticated inventory of Cleon Peterson prints and contemporary editions, with new drops added regularly. Browse the current collection at gauntlet.gallery.
How does Gauntlet Gallery ensure authenticity?
Gauntlet Gallery is built on curation, authenticity and transparency — every work is vetted and its provenance, edition details and condition are disclosed up front.
Does Gauntlet Gallery add new Cleon Peterson prints?
Yes. New drops are released regularly across Cleon Peterson and other leading artists; see gauntlet.gallery for the latest inventory.