Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “The Power Plant & Lulled To Sleep”
Summary
A two-panel screen-printed diptych in Cleon Peterson's signature flat black/white/red palette. The left panel, "The Power Plant," is a faux-industrial propaganda poster ("Politician Engineered, Oligarch Approved") diagramming the machinery of authoritarian capture — "Capture Institutions," "Manufacture Chaos," "Weaponize Fear," "Rig Elections," "Privatize Everything" — funneling toward a choice between "Tyranny or Revolution." The right panel, "Wake Up," shows a uniformed officer cradling a limp, sleeping body, captioned "The sleep they've lulled you into is consent." Together they extend Peterson's ongoing reckoning with state power, complicity and the brutality beneath civic order.
Why It Matters
This is one of Peterson's most explicitly text-driven, polemical works — closer to agitprop and the broadside tradition (Hogarth, propaganda posters, Fairey-style activist graphics) than to his usual wordless friezes of writhing bodies. Rather than depicting violence directly, it diagrams the systems that produce it, naming the mechanisms of institutional capture and manufactured consent. As a diptych pairing a satirical "infomercial" for tyranny with a stark image of a pacified citizenry, it crystallizes the political anger that runs through his entire practice into legible, quotable language — making it an unusually didactic and timely entry in his catalog.
Collector Perspective
A 2025 screen print in a very small edition of 18, which places it among the scarcer Peterson editions on the market. As is standard for his fine-art prints, expect it to be hand-signed and numbered. The diptych format and the heavily text-based, poster-like composition make it a more conceptual, statement-driven piece than his figure-heavy crowd scenes — appealing to collectors who value the political content as much as the imagery. The tiny run should support firm pricing, though the niche, word-driven subject can narrow the buyer pool relative to his iconic black-figure brawl prints.
Historical Context
Made in 2025, the work sits within Peterson's mature, overtly political phase, in which his long-standing themes of power, authority and social conflict sharpen into direct commentary on contemporary authoritarianism, oligarchy and democratic backsliding. It draws on the visual language of mid-century propaganda posters and protest graphics — a lineage shared with his frequent collaborator Shepard Fairey — while retaining the reductive black/white/red palette that has defined his output since the early 2010s.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
It is a two-panel diptych. The left panel, 'The Power Plant,' is a mock propaganda poster diagramming the steps of authoritarian capture — capturing institutions, manufacturing chaos, weaponizing fear, rigging elections and privatizing everything — leading to 'Tyranny or Revolution.' The right panel, 'Wake Up,' shows a uniformed officer holding a limp, sleeping figure under the line 'The sleep they've lulled you into is consent.'
What is the edition size?
The edition is limited to 18.
Is it signed and numbered?
As is standard for Cleon Peterson's fine-art screen prints, it is expected to be hand-signed and numbered by the artist.
What is the medium?
Screen print, executed in Peterson's characteristic flat black, white and red palette.
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 rendered in a flat black/white/red/gold palette. Drawing on Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art, and a frequent collaborator of Shepard Fairey, his work exposes the abuse of power and the brutality beneath civilization.
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.