Cleon Peterson portrays the brutal struggles between an army of warring figures in his monochromatic illustrations reminiscent of Grecian pottery. Previously featured on our blog here, the Los Angeles based painter and muralist juxtaposes a bold use of minimalism and clean lines with the chaos and violence that exists in today’s world. He is unafraid to show the ugly side of human nature, and yet Peterson chooses to see his work as more of a mirror, where looking at our own reflection can have the power to inspire change. Peterson celebrated his solo debut in Hong Kong last night with the opening of his pop-up solo exhibition, “Purity”, in cooperation with local arts organization, Over the Influence. The new series presents some of Peterson’s largest works to date, including some jarring red and black pieces, coinciding with a few murals that were painted around the area of Sheung Wan. “Purity explores our new reality, a world where humanity is divided by war and chaos. A world where human values have broken down and been replaced by the ideology of war and revenge,” Peterson says. “Cultures and religions clash, each one fighting to impose its vision and ideals on the other. Compassion and understanding have become a distant memory replaced by the idea of the outsider or other. Human life has become valueless taken over by the machine of war. At the heart of all of this is an impulse to make the world ‘Pure’.”
Clean Peterson’s Purity” is now on view at The Space at 210 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong through January 31st.
Peruvian artist 
The late painter 
