Menacing Beauty: The John Climenhage Storefront Project
October 30 to November 13, 2020
Part of Artsweek SHIFT: Downtown, Menacing Beauty is an exhibition of works by local artist John Climenhage, depicting Peterborough’s downtown during the COVID-19 lockdown, exhibited in storefronts throughout downtown Peterborough.
Curatorial Statement
My first experience with John’s work was the night I settled in at The Garnet on Hunter Street for a libation and discussion, and spied a painting of John’s on the wall. His work was gorgeous, sprawling, meaningful, everything I wanted my own poetry to be. However, I didn’t understand John’s immeasurable contribution to our experience and knowledge of the city until I saw his site-specific work on downtown Peterborough. Climenhage’s paintings are unmatched in how they chronicle the changes affecting our urban, rural, and even wilder landscapes. John’s work executed during the pandemic is fresh, it’s immediate, it’s crucial.
These are paintings devoid of folk, rife with the menacing stress of long shadows creeping into what would otherwise be idyllic city scenes. There is a deep metaphor at work here. John is painting spaces and locales that we walk by or through every day. When we see a painting of a downtown home that we recognize, we immediately see it for its personal significance or objective beauty, but the shading and shadows in the work remind us that everything right now is tainted with risk, exposed and vulnerable. From his candid paintings of past and present cultural hubs in the downtown like The Spill, The Pig’s Ear, and Market Hall, to his aforementioned streetscapes, John Climenhage makes art of us all, our daily routines, our shelters, and our social places, including us in his unique local canon.
Curator Justin Million
Locations
Paintings are at the following locations (between October 30 and November 13, 2020):
Dreams of Beans (138 Hunter St W)
Providence (131 Hunter St W)
Rare (166 Brock Street)
The Sapphire Room (137 Hunter St W)
Sam’s Place Deli (188 Hunter St W)
St. Veronus Cafe and Tap Room (129 Hunter St W)
The Garnet (231 Hunter St W)
The Night Kitchen (168 Hunter St W)
