Archive

CLEON PETERSON

AMERICAN, BORN 1973

Cleon Peterson’s bold, stylized paintings and prints depict a world of brute, authoritarian violence and caustic debauchery. He draws on fine-art influences such as Leon Golub and Paul McCarthy, as well as the aesthetics of Greek pottery, graphic design, and political propaganda posters.

His striking compositions feature characters packed into dense, kinetic scenes of high-contrast conflict. Peterson works with a spare color palette, often limiting himself to black, white, red, and yellow.