Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “Absolute Power”
Summary
Absolute Power" depicts an inverted, toppling Washington Monument plunging head-down into a black landscape beside a floodlit White House and a dead, gallows-like tree, all set against a churning red-and-black sky. Rendered in the flat black/white/red palette of high-contrast political printmaking, it reads as a stark allegory of American power overturned and corrupted from within.
Why It Matters
The image weaponizes the most recognizable monuments of U.S. federal power — the Washington Monument and the White House — by inverting and destabilizing them, turning patriotic icons into emblems of collapse, hubris and decline. Released in 2018 at the height of a polarized American political moment, it distills the era's anxieties about the abuse and unraveling of institutional authority into a single, immediately legible image. The reduced palette and bold negative-space silhouettes give it the punch of a protest poster while functioning as a finished collectible print.
Collector Perspective
A 2018 screen print in a small edition of 34, hand-signed and numbered in pencil along the lower edge. The very low edition size places it well above the artist's open and large-run posters and into genuinely scarce territory, which supports its desirability among collectors of political and street-art-adjacent printmaking. As an overtly political, monument-toppling image with strong wall presence, it has a clear audience; the tight edition means supply is thin and secondary-market appearances are infrequent. Condition (clean margins, no handling creases, intact pencil signature/number) is the main value driver at this edition level.
Historical Context
Produced in 2018, the print belongs to a wave of explicitly political graphic work responding to the divisive American political climate of the late 2010s. Its vocabulary — inverted federal monuments, the spotlit White House, dead trees and a blood-red sky — sits squarely in the tradition of protest printmaking that repurposes national symbols to critique power. The small hand-pulled screen-print edition reflects a fine-art, gallery-edition release rather than a mass street poster, marking it as a deliberate, archival statement piece from this era.
FAQ
What does Absolute Power depict?
An inverted Washington Monument plunging head-down into a dark landscape, with a floodlit White House, a fountain and a bare gallows-like tree, set against a turbulent red-and-black sky — an allegory of American political power overturned and corrupted.
How large is the edition?
The edition is just 34, making it a genuinely scarce, small-run release rather than an open or mass-produced poster.
Is the print signed and numbered?
Yes. Works in this edition are hand-signed and numbered in pencil along the lower edge.
What medium is it?
It is a hand-pulled screen print, produced in 2018, using a flat high-contrast black, white and red palette.
Why is the imagery political?
By inverting and destabilizing the Washington Monument and pairing it with the White House, the print turns iconic symbols of U.S. federal authority into images of collapse and abuse of power, in the tradition of protest printmaking.
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.