Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “A Perfect Trade (White)”
Summary
A stark black-and-white screen print showing a towering, masked aggressor striding forward with a club or staff raised over one shoulder while gripping a severed head by the hair in the other hand, two fallen and contorted victims sprawled beneath his feet. It is a quintessential Cleon Peterson tableau of domination and slaughter, distilling his ongoing interrogation of power and the brutality beneath civilized order into a single monumental figure.
Why It Matters
The composition crystallizes the central engine of Peterson's work: a single hulking figure of authority looming over broken bodies, weapon in hand and a trophy head dangling, executing violence without consequence. Stripped to pure black silhouette on white with no relieving gold or red, the image reads almost like a relief carving or classical vase scene, channeling Greek figuration and Hogarthian moralizing into a flat, graphic, contemporary indictment of force and impunity. The title's irony — calling annihilation "a perfect trade" — sharpens its commentary on transactional power and the cost of complicity, making it one of the more direct statements of the artist's recurring thesis.
Collector Perspective
This is the white (light-ground) colorway of A Perfect Trade, a 2022 screen print in an edition of just 28, typically hand-signed and numbered by the artist in pencil in the lower margin. The very small run places it well below Peterson's larger open or 100-plus print editions, so supply is thin and any copy that surfaces tends to draw committed collectors of his graphic work. As a single-figure, high-contrast image it sits squarely in the most recognizable lane of his catalog; market position is solid for a small-edition print, with value driven more by scarcity than by broad name recognition.
Historical Context
A Perfect Trade dates to 2022, within the mature phase of Peterson's print output after the visibility of his End of Empire and Poison series and his ongoing collaborations with Shepard Fairey. By this point his visual language — flat masked figures, severed heads, fallen bodies, and a restricted black/white/red/gold palette — was fully codified, and this print extends that vocabulary in a monochrome, classically posed format that echoes ancient relief and vase painting while speaking to contemporary anxieties about violence, authority, and moral collapse.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
A large masked figure strides forward holding a raised club or staff over one shoulder and a severed head by the hair in the other hand, while two contorted, fallen victims lie beneath his feet — a scene of domination and slaughter rendered in flat black silhouette on white.
How large is the edition?
The edition size is 28, making this a small and relatively scarce release.
Is it signed and numbered?
Works in this format are typically hand-signed and numbered in pencil by Cleon Peterson in the lower margin; confirm the specific pencil inscription on the copy you are considering.
What is the medium and which colorway is this?
It is a screen print, and this is the White (light-ground) variant — pure black image on a white sheet, without the red or gold Peterson often uses.
Who is Cleon Peterson?
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) is an American artist known for stark, high-contrast scenes of violence, power, and social conflict in a flat black/white/red/gold palette, drawing on Greek vase painting, Hogarth, and street art, and is a frequent Shepard Fairey collaborator.
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.