Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “Nowhere Man (Black & White)”
Summary
A horizontal black-and-white screen print packed with a tangle of nude, faceless figures running, grappling, falling and trampling one another across a bare white field — Cleon Peterson's signature frieze of bodies in chaotic conflict. "Nowhere Man" distills his career-long subject, the brutality and disorder beneath civilization, into a stripped two-color composition that reads like a contemporary echo of a Greek battle frieze.
Why It Matters
The print is a concentrated statement of Peterson's central language: flat silhouetted figures, no faces, no setting, and a relentless lateral push of running and falling bodies that collapses aggressor and victim into one undifferentiated mass. Working here in pure black on white rather than his usual black/white/red/gold, Peterson forces all the drama onto gesture and silhouette, foregrounding the classical-frieze structure (drawn from Greek vase painting and processional reliefs) that underpins his End of Empire imagery. The result is one of his most graphically severe works — violence rendered as pattern, the mob as ornament.
Collector Perspective
A 2024 screen print in a very small edition of 13, well below the typical 100-plus runs that anchor most Cleon Peterson releases, making it one of the scarcer prints in his recent output. As a hand-pulled screen print it is expected to be signed and numbered by the artist in the lower margin (signature visible at lower right of the sheet). The tiny edition size limits secondary-market supply, so comps will be thin and pricing driven more by edition scarcity and the strength of this widescreen frieze format than by liquidity. A focused buy for collectors who want the black-and-white, classically structured side of Peterson's work rather than the red/gold palette he is best known for.
Historical Context
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) built his reputation through the 2010s on stark, high-contrast scenes of violence, power and social conflict — fighting, clubbing and writhing figures that expose the abuse of power and the brutality beneath order, drawing on Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art. "Nowhere Man" (2024) sits in his mature period, when the running, trampling crowd had become a recurring motif and the artist increasingly used the long horizontal frieze format to stage mob conflict as an unbroken procession of bodies. This black-and-white treatment strips the work to its compositional bones, emphasizing the antiquity-derived structure that runs throughout his practice.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
A long horizontal scene of numerous nude, faceless black figures running, fighting, grappling and falling across an empty white background — a chaotic crowd locked in violent conflict, with no clear victor and no setting, in Cleon Peterson's signature style.
How large is the edition?
The edition is just 13, a very small run that makes this one of the scarcer Cleon Peterson prints.
Is it signed and numbered?
As a hand-pulled limited-edition screen print, it is expected to be hand-signed and numbered by Cleon Peterson in the margin; a signature is visible at the lower right of the sheet.
What is the medium?
It is a screen print (silkscreen), produced in 2024, printed in black on a white sheet.
Who is Cleon Peterson?
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) is an American artist known for stark black/white/red/gold scenes of violence, power and social conflict that draw on classical Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art; he is also 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.