Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “Poison In The Mind (Red)”
Summary
A dense, frieze-like horizontal screen print packed wall-to-wall with interlocking nude figures clubbing, dragging and beating one another in Cleon Peterson's signature flat red, black and white palette. Like much of Peterson's work, "Poison In The Mind" stages anonymous mob violence as a continuous, almost ornamental band, distilling the brutality and abuse of power that runs beneath civilized order.
Why It Matters
This print is a concentrated example of the visual language that built Peterson's reputation: stark high-contrast silhouettes, faceless aggressors and victims, and a composition borrowed directly from the registers of ancient Greek vase painting, weaponized to depict modern cruelty. The wall-to-wall density — bodies fighting in every direction with no clear winner — turns violence into a self-perpetuating cycle, which is exactly the moral and political reading Peterson invites. As a red-palette variant of a strong, busy mob composition, it sits comfortably among the artist's most recognizable and reproducible images.
Collector Perspective
A 2019 hand-pulled screen print in a small edition of 30, typically hand-signed and numbered by the artist. The very low edition size puts it well below Peterson's larger 100–150 run prints, making it materially scarcer, though as a less headline-grabbing title it trades on the strength of the image and the edition number rather than name recognition. The red colorway is the most on-brand and collectible of Peterson's palettes. Realistic positioning: a mid-tier Peterson on the secondary market — desirable to dedicated collectors for the scarcity, but not one of his trophy large-format or collaborative pieces.
Historical Context
Produced in 2019, during the period when Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) had firmly established his black/white/red vocabulary of power, violence and social conflict and was regularly releasing limited screen prints alongside gallery shows. The work draws on his longstanding sources — classical Greek vase painting, Hogarth's moral scenes, and street-art directness — to comment on aggression, mob behavior and the abuse of power, themes that recur across his print output and his collaborations with Shepard Fairey.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
A packed horizontal scene of anonymous nude figures clubbing, grabbing and beating one another in a continuous mass, rendered in flat red, black and white silhouettes — a depiction of mob violence and the abuse of power.
What is the edition size?
30.
Is it signed and numbered?
Works in this edition are typically hand-signed and numbered by Cleon Peterson; confirm with the specific certificate or verso for the individual impression.
What medium is it?
A hand-pulled screen print, made in 2019.
Who is Cleon Peterson?
An American artist (b. 1973, Seattle) known for stark, high-contrast black/white/red/gold scenes of violence, power and social conflict drawn from Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art, and a frequent collaborator with 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.