Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “Take Me Now (Black & Gold)”
Summary
A tangle of three nude gold figures writhes against a flat black ground, one combatant rearing over the others and driving a spear or staff downward while a figure below is pinned and overpowered. The gold-on-black palette and contorted, interlocking bodies cast Peterson's recurring theme of brute domination in the visual language of ancient Greek vase painting.
Why It Matters
Take Me Now distills Cleon Peterson's central preoccupation - the violence and coercion beneath civilized order - into a deliberately classical frame. By swapping his usual stark white and red for gilded figures on black, he explicitly invokes black-figure Greek pottery and the mythic combat scenes that decorated it, drawing a line from antiquity's celebrated warfare to contemporary abuse of power. The flat, almost heraldic silhouette and the spear motif tie this sheet to his ongoing classical and End of Empire vocabulary, making it a strong, legible example of the iconography collectors associate with his name.
Collector Perspective
This is a small-format screen print from 2024 in an edition of just 18, hand-signed and numbered in pencil (numbering visible lower left, signature lower right). The tiny edition makes it considerably scarcer than Peterson's standard 100-plus print runs, which appeals to collectors chasing low-population works, though such small editions also trade thinly and surface infrequently on the secondary market. The gold-on-black colorway is a desirable, decorative variant within his palette. Position it as a scarce, design-forward sheet rather than a major large-scale statement piece.
Historical Context
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) built his reputation over the 2010s and 2020s on flat, high-contrast scenes of fighting, mobs and power drawn from Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art, and he is a frequent Shepard Fairey collaborator. Take Me Now (2024) belongs to his continued mining of classical antiquity - the same vein as his End of Empire vases and Siren imagery - here rendered as a gilded combat tableau that turns ancient pottery's heroic violence into a comment on raw domination.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
Three nude figures in flat gold against a black background, locked in a violent struggle - an upper figure thrusts a spear or staff downward while another is pinned and overpowered below, echoing combat scenes from ancient Greek vase painting.
How large is the edition?
The edition is just 18, making it a notably small and scarce run compared with Peterson's more common editions of 100 or more.
Is it signed and numbered?
Yes. It is hand-signed by Cleon Peterson in pencil at the lower right and numbered in pencil at the lower left.
What is the medium?
It is a screen print (silkscreen) on paper, produced in 2024 in the gold-and-black colorway.
Who is Cleon Peterson?
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) is an American artist known for stark black, white, red and gold scenes of violence and power inspired by Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art, and for his frequent collaborations 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.