St. Pete artist Cort Hartle replaces works with names of deceased Palestinians

The opening reception of St. Petersburg artist Cort Hartle’s latest exhibition, “Swamp Church,” was set for last Thursday, Jan. 18 at Ybor City’s Department of Contemporary Art (DoCA).

Instead of Hartle’s paintings, however, exhibition attendees found the gallery walls covered in pages and pages of white paper. One hand-written note in the center states, “In solidarity with the people of Palestine there is no art show tonight.”

Hartle’s note continues, “The pages on the walls around us contain the names and ages of 6,747 Palestinians killed by the state of Israel from October 7-26, 2023.”

Hartle was supported by DoCA founder and director Emiliano Settecasi to create the exhibition-that-wasn’t.
“I felt that standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, amplifying their voices, and hopefully moving others to action was a more important use of the space and the platform I was given in this moment,” Hartle told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

Settecasi told CL the decision to host the action wasn't difficult. His space, from inception, was meant to evolve the concept of a gallery into something that suits the needs of artists in material ways, from exhibits to fashion shows, sticker shops and more. When Hartle approached him in December about changing the show, the world was two months removed from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that Israeli officials say killed approximately 1,200 people.

"I was hoping by the week of install there would be a ceasefire, but another 40 days passed and Israel killed tens of thousands more people, and to this day there is no end to the destruction of human life and human infrastructure in Palestine in sight," Settecasi added.

The show was still marketed as Swamp Church, rendering the change of plans unexpected and thus more impactful for the opening night audience.

Though Hartle, a University of South Florida alumni, typically works in mediums of paint and ceramics, at DoCA they offer a zine titled “Free Palestine” to gallery-goers as an explanation of what motivated them to pull the show. The zine cites the Israeli government’s “relentless bombardment of civilians in Gaza’ and the United States’ support for the ‘settler colonial state of Israel.”

The text also illuminates Hartle’s perspective that it is necessary for artists to be political, that as participants of the world they have a responsibility to use art as protest. Following Hartle’s artist statement is an explanation of the conflict including numbers of dead, injured and displaced Palestinians and the U.S. response in support of Israel.

While artists around the world are seeing their shows canceled over criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu's government, Hartle said they were grateful that they have a day job that provides some flexibility.

“I don’t ever want to be in a position where I have to consider my career as an artist over my values, even if that means I get fewer opportunities,” Hartle told CL. “On a broader scale, the backlash against and silencing of artists—like Samia Halaby, for instance—over their support of the Palestinian struggle is beyond shameful, especially coming from institutions that outwardly position themselves as progressive. I think that it points to much larger issues in the art world.”

Settecasi said he believes that communities are called to face emergencies whether locally, nationally, and internationally.

"The people in charge unfortunately continue to demonstrate they have no regard for human life," he added. "Cort validated that belief with their request to show the names of the killed rather than their artwork and I couldn't be more proud to support their decision."

Hortle's zine implores readers to take action by listening to Palestinian voices, by contacting their representatives, protesting, boycotting, donating and learning.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Palestine has been subject to relentless bombing, airstrikes and annihilation of Palestinian life and infrastructure. Hartle’s act of protest includes less than 7,000 of what the Healthy Ministry says is more than 25,000 estimated Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes.

The response to the opening was overwhelmingly positive, and Hartle hopes it will carry further outside of the gallery and into daily life.

Hartle’s show is on display until Feb. 8. DoCA is open from 6 p.m.- 9 p.m. on Thursdays only.
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UPDATED: 01/22/24 5:37 p.m. Updated to include comments from DoCA founder Emiliano Settecasi.