Rogues Gallery Founder and L.L. Bean Creative Director Introduces His Latest Project

By Stephen Watson
October 5, 2011

Born and raised in New England, designer and creative director Alex Carleton seems to have Atlantic Ocean seawater coursing through his veins. Ever-inspired by the history, folklore, and mythology of the Northeastern United States, Carleton's love of the salty region knows no bounds. After working in New York City for Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie & Fitch, Carleton moved Southern Maine, where he joined L.L. Bean's design department and then left to launch Rogues Gallery, a line of garment-dyed graphic tees that has evolved into a full collection with retail stores in Provincetown, the historical artists' colony on Cape Cod, and Portland, Maine. Now back at LL Bean as designer of the Signature collection, this summer, Carleton opened Foc’sle, a gallery in Provincetown.

The Inside Source: What is Foc'sle it all about?

Alex Carleton: The original idea was basically about contextualization. I didn’t want to just put the art up on the walls. I wanted to put both the art and the buyer in a context. I wanted people to get a sense of how they could live with the art as part of a mosaic of objects, furnishings and in relationship to other artists in the gallery and also to make the experience unfold rather than being presented head on. From the very beginning, I asked the artists if they wanted their work to be displayed on its own—in a traditional gallery style—or mixed together into some crazy conceptual living room. Everyone got it.

What I didn’t expect was how the space really turned into is a think tank over the course of the summer. I had no idea it would be so interesting. Every decision we make in the store is an opportunity to play with ideas: color, light, history, objects, space... I am coming up with new ideas all the time because this is a context where you can experiment a little bit more and see what works.

above: Alex Carleton (photo credit Shoshanna White)

The Inside Source: What is the meaning of the name Foc’sle?

Alex Carleton: Foc’sle [pronounced “fohk-suhl”] is a contraction for the word “forecastle” as in the forecastle deck of a full rigged ship. It is the part of the ship, “before the mast,” where sailors sleep and spend time when they are not on watch. When you go on to one of those old full-masted ships and down in to the foc’sle, the ceilings are low and it’s packed with stuff from sailors' lives. It’s a much more informal space than the officers’ living quarters.

So the space we are in—it has low ceilings with heavy beams and a great pine wood floor—it just looked like a foc’sle. And also, one of the things I wanted to do with this space was to tap in to some of the nautical history of Provincetown.

Alex Carleton

Foc'sle, Alex Carleton's gallery in Provincetown on Cape Cod

The Inside Source: In addition to Foc’sle, you founded the clothing brand Rogues Gallery and are the Creative Director of LL Bean's Signature collection. What is it about the New England aesthetic that you're attracted to?

Alex Carleton: It’s just something I’ve been passionate about my whole life. It is just so fundamentally American. I really get into the craftsmanship, the history, the quality. It’s part of who I am.

The Inside Source: You were one of the first people to identify the return to classical, all-American style based on historical references. Why do think this style has such staying power?

Alex Carleton: It wasn’t something that I was sitting around one day thinking: how do I revive this aesthetic. It’s really just something that I love and it became a central feature of the stuff I was producing and people started to pick up on it.

The Inside Source: What kind of things do you sell at Foc’sle?

Alex Carleton: It’s a combination of folk art, found art, outsider art and contemporary art [from artists such as Tim Wilson, Shoshanna White, Mitch Ferrin, Tim Convery, Mischa Richter and others] as well as some books from Nightboat Press and stuff—pillows, floor treatments, furniture—that we make up in our workshop in Maine.

Alex Carleton

The Inside Source: What is the first piece of art that you bought for yourself?

Alex Carleton: As a teenager I was interested in early American craft and folk art. A local blacksmith from Orleans forged a pair of early colonial style candlesticks for me. I've always been interested in utilitarian objects as interpreted by the individual. The first piece of actual art I bought was a seascape I found at a yard sale.

The Inside Source: Provincetown holds such an important place in American art history. Do you have a favorite Provincetown artist?

Alex Carleton: Recently I attended an incredible and thorough exhibition tiled "The Tides of Provincetown," which chronicles America's oldest art colony. I was blown away by it. I'm generally attracted to the old-school painters. Ross Moffet is certainly a favorite. Provincetown continues to inspire artists. John Dowd, Mischa Richter... there are some very talented individuals who are making American art history now. I love Provincetown's maritime history and am greatly attracted to the objects and ephemera at the Monument Museum.

The Inside Source: For someone coming to visit Provincetown, what are some places that the visitor shouldn’t miss?

Alex Carleton: There’s so much. I really want more people to go up to the Monument [Museum] and learn about Provincetown’s history. This was the home of Admiral Donald Mac Millan who was Peary’s right hand man on the first trip to the North Pole and the Heritage Museum has a lot of artifacts and information from that expedition. Pick up the walking tour pamphlet at the Monument and stroll through town looking at the blue plaques. There are so many aspects left of Provincetown’s whaling history, its salt factories and fisheries, as well as its history as an art colony.

The dunes! The National Seashore is the king of Cape Cod. Rent a bike and head into the dunes on very well-maintained bike trails. Visit the dune shacks, bring a copy of Henry Beston's Outer Most House and bring plenty of water. In the evening stroll through the East End—have dinner at Devons, Fanizzi's, Ciro and Sal's and be sure to check out some of Provincetown's great small art galleries.

Alex Carleton

The Inside Source: Have you ever bought anything on eBay? Any good stories? Big wins?

Alex Carleton: I love eBay. A little too much. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was to recently find an incredible antique black painted wood carved sperm whale. It was right down the street in Orleans. I also just bought an antique ship's capstan that weighs 400 pounds. I just have to figure out how to get it home from Rhode Island.

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