{"id":106582,"date":"2017-01-09T18:05:15","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T23:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=106582"},"modified":"2017-01-09T18:07:33","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T23:07:33","slug":"winter-shadow-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/09\/winter-shadow-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Shadow Box"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/johnson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-106585\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/johnson.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"798\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/johnson.png 640w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/johnson-241x300.png 241w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Our\u00a0complete digital archive is available now.\u00a0Subscribers can read every piece\u2014every story and poem, every essay, portfolio, and interview\u2014from <\/em>The Paris Review<em>\u2019s sixty-three-year history. <a href=\"https:\/\/ssl.drgnetwork.com\/ecom\/TPR\/app\/live\/subscriptions?org=TPR&amp;publ=PR&amp;key_code=ENAPRFX&amp;type=S&amp;gift_key=GATPRFX\">Subscribe now<\/a> and you can start reading 0ur\u00a0back issues\u00a0right away. You can also try <a href=\"https:\/\/ssl.drgnetwork.com\/ecom\/TPR\/app\/live\/subscriptions?org=TPR&amp;publ=PR&amp;key_code=TA10FX&amp;type=S\">a free ten-day trial period<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re at that time when winter loses what little charm it had: the twinkling\u00a0lights come down, the mercury\u00a0plunges, and what felt\u00a0two\u00a0weeks\u00a0ago like rosy-cheeked novelty is now pure marrow-sucking\u00a0viciousness, part of a stimulus package for\u00a0brown-liquor\u00a0distillers. Everyone is holed up with a fifth of something. To\u00a0deceive yourself that you have the wherewithal\u00a0to go outdoors, you need wintertime propaganda.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/art-photography\/6463\/details-of-winter-cletus-johnson\" target=\"_blank\">I found some in our Winter 1976 issue courtesy of Cletus Johnson<\/a>, who designs what he\u2019s called \u201cstage sets for the play of the spectator\u2019s imagination.\u201d\u00a0As the editors explained,\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>His theatres are shallow box-like constructions with just enough real architectural elements to, at first glance, have credibility as \u201creal\u201d architecture. They are painted a matte gray or brown, generally, with sober ornamentation that recalls late nineteenth century neoclassical style. A second look reveals some curious details: doorways that lead nowhere, a doorway that simply leans against the building, as if waiting for the otherwise meticulous architect to find a place for it. A lone cow stands perched on a ledge of one facade with an air of belonging. Such incongruous elements coexist in utter harmony.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The particular design in this portfolio is called\u00a0<em>Winter<\/em>, and it conjures the platonic form of the season, with three rheostats and 140 soft, inviting lights.<\/p>\n<p>Check out \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/art-photography\/6463\/details-of-winter-cletus-johnson\" target=\"_blank\">Winter<\/a>\u201d here, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ssl.drgnetwork.com\/ecom\/TPR\/app\/live\/subscriptions?org=TPR&amp;publ=PR&amp;key_code=ENAPRFX&amp;type=S&amp;gift_key=GATPRFX\" target=\"_blank\">subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0for digital access to every short story, poem, portfolio, and essay from\u00a0<em>The Paris Review<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cletus Johnson\u2019s \u201cWinter\u201d is like seasonal propaganda, presenting a platonic version of the most frigid time of year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1188],"tags":[35,370,26614,25912,26616,26617,16380,10033,26615],"class_list":["post-106582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-archive","tag-art","tag-back-issues","tag-cletus-johnson","tag-digital-archive","tag-digital-subscription","tag-issue-68","tag-portfolios","tag-winter","tag-winter-1976"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Winter Shadow Box: Art by Cletus Johnson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cletus Johnson\u2019s \u201cWinter\u201d is like seasonal propaganda, presenting a platonic version of the most frigid time of year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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