{{Short description|American contemporary artist (born 1973)}} '''Cleon Peterson''' (born 1973) is an American [[contemporary artist]] based in [[Los Angeles]]. He is best known for large-scale paintings and murals featuring stylized figures in violent conflict, exploring themes of power, domination, and societal collapse.<ref name="Format">{{cite web|title=Painter Cleon Peterson is Inspired by Destructive Children|url=https://www.format.com/magazine/features/art/cleon-peterson-art-profile-portfolio|website=Format Magazine|date=25 February 2016|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref><ref name="ItsNiceThatProfile">{{cite web|title=Art: Cleon Peterson disturbs and delights with his giant canvases of orgiastic ultraviolence|url=https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/cleon-peterson-updates|website=It's Nice That|date=11 June 2014|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Born in [[Seattle]], Peterson experienced a troubled youth, later turning to art as a career path.<ref name="Format"/> He earned a [[Bachelor of Fine Arts|BFA]] from [[ArtCenter College of Design]] in [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]] in 2004 and an [[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]] from [[Cranbrook Academy of Art]] in [[Michigan]] in 2006.<ref name="MCA Denver">{{cite web|title=Cleon Peterson: Shadow of Men|url=https://mcadenver.org/exhibitions/cleon-peterson|website=Museum of Contemporary Art Denver|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref><ref name="CranbrookNews">{{cite web|title=Peterson's "Shadow of Men" Opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in February|url=https://cranbrookart.edu/2017/11/16/petersons-shadow-of-men-opens-at-the-museum-of-contemporary-art-denver-in-february/|website=Cranbrook Academy of Art|date=16 November 2017|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>
== Career == Peterson began his career in graphic design and illustration, notably working for Shepard Fairey’s design agency, [[Studio Number One]], marking a turning point in his transition toward a committed art career.<ref name="StudioOne">{{cite web|title=In addition to quitting drugs for good, working for Shepard Fairey’s Studio Number One marked the start of a major turnaround in Peterson’s life|url=https://anothersomething.org/cleon-peterson/|website=Another Something|access-date=27 August 2025}}</ref> His imagery is characterized by stark, graphic scenes of violence and domination, rendered in black-and-white figures often accented with red.<ref name="ItsNiceThatProfile"/>
In 2016, he created ''Endless Sleep'', the first-ever [[mural]] painted directly beneath the [[Eiffel Tower]] for [[Nuit Blanche]] Paris—depicting dynamic, intertwined figures and blending references to Greek frescoes and street art.<ref name="ItsNiceThatEiffel">{{cite web|title=Cleon Peterson paints the first mural underneath the Eiffel Tower for Nuit Blanche Paris|url=https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/cleon-peterson-nuit-blanche-paris-eiffel-tower-mural-270916|website=It's Nice That|date=27 September 2016|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref> He has also participated in institutional projects such as ''Lasco Project #8'' at the [[Palais de Tokyo]] in Paris.<ref name="PalaisTokyo">{{cite web|title=Lasco Project #8|url=https://palaisdetokyo.com/en/exposition/lasco-project-8/|website=Palais de Tokyo|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>
== Exhibitions == Peterson’s notable solo exhibitions include: * ''Blood & Soil'' at Over the Influence, Los Angeles (July 8 – August 5 2018), featuring new paintings, bronze sculptures, and a large-scale sculpture.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cleon Peterson “Blood & Soil”|url=https://overtheinfluence.com/exhibitions/cleon-peterson-blood-soil/|website=Over the Influence|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref> * ''Mr. Sinister'' at albertz benda, New York (March 3 – April 2 2022), where he premiered a new series exploring power, morality, and fantasy.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cleon Peterson: Mr. Sinister|url=https://www.albertzbenda.com/exhibitions/14-cleon-peterson-mr.-sinister/|website=albertz benda|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref> * ''Under the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars'' at Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo (February 13 – March 4 2023), his first solo exhibition in Japan in seven years, featuring twenty-seven new paintings.<ref name="KaikaiKiki">{{cite web|title=Under the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars (solo exhibition) – Cleon Peterson|url=https://en.gallery-kaikaikiki.com/2023/02/cleon_main/|website=Kaikai Kiki Gallery|date=February 13 – March 4, 2023|access-date=27 August 2025}}</ref>
== Critical reception == Peterson’s work has drawn a range of critical responses. Reviewing ''Shadow of Men'' at MCA Denver, the ''Denver Post'' described the show as “hard to look at” but argued that it “forces us to examine the darkness within.”<ref name="DenverPost">{{cite news|last=Rinaldi|first=Ray Mark|title=Cleon Peterson show at MCA can be hard to look at, but it forces us to examine the darkness within|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2018/03/05/rinaldi-cleon-peterson-show-at-mca-can-be-hard-to-look-at-but-it-forces-us-to-examine-the-darkness-within/|newspaper=The Denver Post|date=5 March 2018|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>
Other coverage has emphasized the political dimension of his work. ''It’s Nice That'' highlighted his 2018 exhibition ''Blood & Soil'' as a direct critique of American politics,<ref>{{cite web|title=Cleon Peterson’s new exhibition Blood & Soil attacks American politics head on|url=https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/cleon-peterson-blood-and-soil-art-060718|website=It's Nice That|date=6 July 2018|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref> while ''Artsy'' described his violent imagery as “striking at the heart of a divided America.”<ref>{{cite web|title=Cleon Peterson’s Violent Paintings Strike at the Heart of a Divided America|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-cleon-petersons-violent-paintings-strike-heart-divided-america|website=Artsy|date=10 July 2018|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>
At the same time, some critics have questioned the racial dynamics of his black-and-white figures. ''Hyperallergic'' noted that ''Shadow of Men'' prompted debate over how violence is portrayed in museums, with some viewers finding the imagery troubling.<ref>{{cite web|title=Who Decides What Is Violent in the Museum?|url=https://hyperallergic.com/441854/who-decides-what-is-violent-in-the-museum/|website=Hyperallergic|date=10 May 2018|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://cleonpeterson.com/ Official website]
[[Category:1973 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American contemporary artists]] [[Category:Artists from Seattle]] [[Category:ArtCenter College of Design alumni]] [[Category:Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni]]