About the artwork
Submission 1 is one of a series of emblematic compositions by Cleon Peterson devoted to relationships of domination and power dynamics. Produced in acrylic on canvas, the work features two stylized black figures, treated in clean solids on a light background, in a direct physical confrontation. The deliberately pared-down, almost graphic drawing eliminates all decor and focuses the tension on the bodies and their interactions. The silhouettes become anonymous archetypes, embodying opposing forces rather than identifiable individuals. The frontal nature of the scene, combined with the radical contrast between black and white, lends the whole an iconic yet timeless dimension, characteristic of the artist's visual language.
Expert opinion
This study precisely illustrates the coherence and radicalism of Cleon Peterson's aesthetic. Despite its contained format, the work possesses a strong visual intensity, reinforced by its formal simplification and powerful chromatic contrast. The term "study" in no way detracts from its plastic force; on the contrary, it underscores the artist's process of research into gesture, bodily tension and visual narrative. Submission 1 testifies to a period in which Peterson fully asserted his iconographic vocabulary, now internationally recognized for his ability to condense complex social issues into an immediately identifiable graphic grammar.
About the artist
Born in Seattle in 1973, Cleon Peterson lives and works in Los Angeles. Brought up in an environment conducive to artistic creation, his work is notably nourished by his experiences on the streets of New York in the 1990s, where he fell into drug addiction, alternating between prison and a psychiatric hospital. In his work, he depicts urban tensions and violence, disorder and bloody impulses, free from morality and justice. Through his "flat" aesthetic, the artist invokes the influence of ancient Greek vases and the creations of Matisse. He modernizes these references by fusing them with his mastery of graphic design and his familiarity with underground cultures. First recognized for his illustrative work in the skateboarding world, Cleon Peterson joined Shepard Fairey's Californian team in 1998. Since then, he has held solo exhibitions, the first of which took place in Los Angeles. In 2014, he created a monumental fresco at the Palais de Tokyo, followed in 2016 by a 700 m2 painting on the forecourt of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
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