Hidden In Full View: Artist Carlton Scott Sturgill’s ‘Garden Of Delights’ At Gowanus Loft

Sometimes it’s all about where you stand.

Viewing Carlton Scott Sturgill’s engaging exhibit Garden of Delights — currently showing at the ever-surprising Gowanus Loft (61 9th Street) — is as much about the viewer as it is about the installation.

As you stand in front of an assemblage of clean and crisp colored vertical lines, there’s something that may be easy to miss — a series of words running horizontally across the bottom. In order to see what those words are, you have to step closely. And suddenly your relationship to the work — comprised from paint chip samples from Home Depot — becomes a lot more intimate. Your pupils are mere inches from the paint.

“I’m interested in what’s seen and what’s not seen,” says visual artist Carlton Scott Sturgill. Experiencing Garden of Delights is exactly that. “And I like the idea of changing your perception by changing the distance.”

Sturgill currently lives in New Orleans in the New Freret District, a neighborhood that has risen to be a hub of artistry in the city after Hurricane Katrina. Before that he spent eight years in New York, involved in work that took place in Gowanus and other parts of Brooklyn.

Sturgill grew up in the Cincinnati area, and speaks of the conservative environment that served as a background for his earlier years. “Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography was memorably controversial. It was a time when people would boycott hotels if they carried pay-per-view porn,” he recalls. “I grew up in a society of condemnation.”

And this had a tremendous influence on Sturgill’s artwork, and what stories he wants to tell. He’s deeply intrigued by “how people present themselves in public versus how they behave in a private space.”

Sturgill sees a connection with these tropes to the “Casual Encounters” section of craigslist. “craigslist becomes this way to electronically look through a keyhole.” The site allows the user to “extend their private space and find likeminded people.”

While some of Sturgill’s artwork may be explicitly sexual, other pieces walk a fascinating line between the overt and the subtle. In the image above, the elements of nudity and sexuality adjust depending on where you are standing. And what it is the viewer chooses to see.

“I don’t really look like your typical artist,” says Sturgill. “I can go to my own opening and be somewhat anonymous. A lot of times I want to let people talk. I want to hear what they make of it all.”

The exhibit works strikingly well in the Gowanus Loft, an open studio space that is able to transform to the needs of the work. The space is run and curated by artist George Del Barrio — who serves as the curator and lighting designer for this exhibit.

The Vanderbilt Republic — as Del Barrio’s company is called — is known for potent projects that provide an opportunity to re-perceive. Their most recent work — the indelible Camera Obscura/Gowanus project he collaborated on with artist Ashton Worthington — displays the artistic acumen that takes place in the space.

This was the group that lit the Kentile Floors sign in 2014, and projected a “light sculpture” on the Smith-9th Street bridge after dark.

So it’s no accident the exhibit fits so well. Del Barrio pays strict attention to detail. When asked about how Sturgill’s diverse pieces of work have been hung and placed throughout the space, he says, “This is a broad cross-section of Scott’s [Sturgill] catalogue. We begin with the central narrative of work, and identify pieces that have a certain spark.”

“I love the vibe of the space,” says Sturgill, when asked about his work at the Gowanus Loft.

During the closing of the show this Saturday, April 9, the audience will be able to experience Sturgill’s works in tandem with scenes from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet.

Although the exhibition will close this weekend, the show will have a new life later this year at Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island. It provides an opportunity for Sturgill to travel to and work here in New York.

“New Orleans is my artistic home. But I’m happy to have a reason to come here throughout the year.”

While the work produced at the Loft is endlessly diverse, Del Barrio believes experience begins with the collaboration. “We do our best to lead with integrity.”

The Event Rundown: Carlton Scott Sturgill’s Garden of Delights — Closing and Spoken Word Performance
When: Saturday, April 9, Gallery opens at 6:30, Performance at 8pm
Where: Gowanus Loft, 61 9th Street #C8 (between 2nd Avenue and the Gowanus Canal.
What: Garden of Delights is a stunning exhibit by New Orleans by way of Brooklyn artist Carlton Scott Sturgill. The work is diverse and challenging, created with paint chips including mosaics, paintings & sculpture. Curation & lighting design by George Del Barrio. Scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo & Juliet.
How much: Free, but RSVP for the event here.