Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “My Love Is Vengeance (White)”
Summary
A hulking black figure crouches over a prone, gold-toned victim, gripping a dagger raised mid-strike against a blank white ground — a single, compressed act of brutal domination rendered in Cleon Peterson's signature flat black/white/gold palette. The print distills his career-long subject — the abuse of power and the violence beneath social order — into one knife-wielding aggressor and the bodies beneath him.
Why It Matters
The image is Peterson at his most economical and confrontational: no crowd, no architecture, just a predator, a blade, and the splayed limbs of those he overpowers. By stripping the scene to a knife held high over a defenseless body, he stages the raw mechanics of power as physical conquest — the recurring thesis of his work. The reduced three-color scheme (black aggressor, gold victims, white void) and the borrowing of figure-on-figure composition from Greek vase painting and Hogarthian moral scenes give the brutality a timeless, almost mythic register, asking the viewer to recognize the same cruelty across antiquity and the present.
Collector Perspective
A 2022 screen print in an edition of just 24, this is among the scarcer Peterson releases — small editions like this sit well below his more common runs of 75-150 and command a premium when they surface. Expect it hand-signed and numbered in pencil by the artist in the lower margin. The intimate two-figure composition and restrained gold-on-white palette make it a clean, graphic single-image statement rather than a busy mob scene, which broadens its wall appeal. As a low-edition work it trades infrequently; condition (clean margins, no handling creases) materially affects value.
Historical Context
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) built his reputation through the 2010s on stark allegories of power, violence and social conflict, drawing on Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art, and collaborating frequently with Shepard Fairey. My Love Is Vengeance (White) belongs to his early-2020s run of tightly editioned screen prints that pare his crowded battle tableaux down to one or two combatants, isolating the aggressor-victim dynamic. The black/gold/white treatment continues the gilded, antiquity-evoking palette he used across this period.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
A large black figure crouches over fallen, gold-colored bodies while raising a dagger to strike — a compressed scene of domination and violence set against a plain white ground.
What is the edition size?
The edition is limited to 24.
Is it signed and numbered?
Peterson's screen prints are issued hand-signed and numbered in pencil by the artist in the lower margin.
What is the medium and year?
It is a screen print (silkscreen) from 2022.
Who is Cleon Peterson?
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) is an American artist known for flat, high-contrast black/white/red/gold scenes of violence and the abuse of power, influenced by Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art, and 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.