Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “To Create & Destroy (Gold)”
Summary
To Create & Destroy (Gold) depicts a single towering black figure standing astride a sprawling heap of white and gold bodies — some reaching upward, others sprawled in submission — against a banded black-and-gold sky and horizon. It is a quintessential Cleon Peterson tableau of the strongman elevated above the broken mass, distilling his career-long meditation on the abuse of power and the cyclical making and unmaking of civilization.
Why It Matters
The image crystallizes Peterson's central thesis: power is built on the bodies of the many, and the act of creation is inseparable from destruction. The lone dominant figure rising from a tangle of prostrate, grasping figures reads as a universal allegory of tyranny, mob, and collapse, rendered in his signature flat, high-contrast graphic language that owes as much to Greek black-figure vase painting and Hogarth as to street art. The restrained black/white/gold palette pushes the work toward the iconic and monumental, making it one of the more resolved statements in his ongoing body of work about hierarchy and violence.
Collector Perspective
A 2023 screen print in a tight edition of just 36, hand-signed and numbered by the artist. The small run places it well below Peterson's larger open and 100-plus editions, so supply is thin and it tends to surface infrequently on the secondary market. The gold colorway and a strong, central, instantly legible composition give it broad appeal among Peterson and contemporary street-art collectors. A clean, signed, numbered example in mint condition is the desirable configuration; condition and an unfaded gold are the main things to scrutinize.
Historical Context
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) emerged in the 2010s as one of the most recognizable voices in contemporary political and figurative street art, building a vocabulary of fighting, clubbing, and writhing figures that expose the brutality beneath social order. Released in 2023, To Create & Destroy (Gold) belongs to his mature period of large screen-printed allegories, continuing the themes of power, mob, and empire that run through projects such as his End of Empire work, and reflecting his graphic debt to classical antiquity and to frequent collaborator Shepard Fairey's poster tradition.
FAQ
What does To Create & Destroy (Gold) depict?
A single large black figure standing over a pile of white and gold bodies — some reaching up, others sprawled and submissive — beneath a banded black-and-gold sky. It is an allegory of domination, mob, and the cycle of building and destroying civilization.
How large is the edition?
The edition size is 36, a small and relatively scarce run for Cleon Peterson.
Is the print signed and numbered?
Yes. Like Peterson's standard hand-pulled editions, it is hand-signed and numbered by the artist.
What is the medium and year?
It is a screen print produced in 2023.
Who is Cleon Peterson?
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) is a contemporary 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 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.