The Seattle-born painter, sculptor and graphic designer Cleon Peterson has created a true battlefield experience with his new exhibit “Blood & Soil,” satirically making use of the 19th-century German slogan that expressed an idealization of racial identity and territory and which later became a central Nazi rallying cry. Peterson’s oeuvre, which consists of acrylic paintings and sculpture, depicts the dark side of the human psyche and bears testimony to a corrupt society. Many of the dramas displayed in Peterson’s works echo the traumas of his own life experience—he grew up in a chaotic home, faced many near-death experiences due to his asthma, and was torn from his domain again and again through hospitalization, imprisonment and rehabilitation.

Peterson’s work is influenced—or at least inspired—by a diverse group of painters. He adapts freely from examples such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Andy Warhol, as can be seen through his use of memento mori, graphically simplified figures and the reproduction of newsworthy images, and specifically, in this case, the beatings of crime suspects. In addition, “Blood & Soil” deals with racially motivated violence and reflects a marked visual affinity with the works of Jacob Lawrence. Peterson’s new series is rendered in only three colors—red, white and black—recalling the style of Peterson’s protégé, artist Shepard Fairey. This color combination, which has a violent, urgent and alarming feel to it, is also reminiscent of the swastika flag.

Cleon Peterson, “Blood & Soil,” installation view at Over the Influence, 2018.

Peterson has also expressed an admiration for the political and historical commentary of Goya’s The Third of May 1808 (1814) and Picasso’s Guernica (1937), saying that it is the “artist’s job” to document political crises. This commitment to art as political discourse can readily be seen in The Pissers II (2018), in which a man resembling President Trump tries to kiss a half-nude woman, while two nude women pose behind him, likely referencing the alleged relationship between Donald Trump and sex industry workers. Info Wars (2018), which depicts a plant, a gun, a skull, a keyboard and a poster with the imprint “Info War” conjures the ongoing propaganda war waged via electronic media and Special Council Mueller’s investigation.

By June of this year, there had already been 154 mass shootings in 2018. Make a Killer Smile (2018) comments on this and the ongoing dispute over the second amendment, presenting three AK-47 or AR-15 rifles and several shotguns.  Absolute Power (2018) presents three black figures dangling from a tree like bats in front of the White House, implying President Trump’s systematic undoing of Obama’s achievements.

“Blood & Soil” is almost the opposite of the first exhibit Peterson had at age 15. At a Unitarian Church he presented 55 of his paintings, which were landscapes and colorful still lifes in the style of the Fauves. His work is no longer a simple reverie; rather it is politically driven and a very gloomy, yet quite realistic visual representation of the state of the U.S. today.