Balance of Power

Balance of power is a work by the American artist Cleon Peterson (Seattle, United States, 1973). Violence, marginalisation, and the brutal exercise of power are recurring themes in Peterson’s work. Empathy with the “other”; who is marginalised from society is the basis of his work, influenced by Greco-Roman art, Fauvist painting and his experiences with drugs. In his paintings, sculptures and murals he depicts chilling scenes of barbarism and excess; man at his worst, portrayed in a simple style reminiscent of Greco-Roman vases.