Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art
A colourful cross-stitch artwork on pale calico depicting the top half of a smiling creature. A cloud appears above while snakes of different size wind inside and outside the creature's outline. Two hears sit near the bottom, one pierced by an arrow.
James Gladwell, Ghost, c.2022 Detail Courtesy the artist and Barrington Farm

Cross-Stitch artwork on pale calico depicting a farm scene. Sheep and other animals appear along the bottom with fences and chickens. Behind the fences stand two large buildings and a large tree in the centre, rendered in multicoloured stitching.
James Gladwell, The Farm, c.2016 Detail Courtesy the artist and Barrington Farm


Dates and Opening times

5 - 21 Jun Mon - Sun, 11am - 6pm (22 Jun - 18 Jul, Wed - Sat, 11am - 5pm)

Venue

Trongate 103, G1 5HD

Participants
James Gladwell
Presented by

Project Ability

Supported by

Creative Scotland and Barrington Farm

Accessiblity

Level Access, Step Free: The venue has ramped or level access and/or lifts to upper floors


Accessible Toilets: The venue has a wheelchair accessible toilet


Gender Neutral Toilets: The venue has toilets not separated by gender or sex


Refreshments: There is a café or somewhere you can purchase refreshments


Baby Change: The venue has baby changing facilities


Bike Rack: There is cycle parking at the venue

Project Ability presents James Gladwell’s cross-stitched drawings, which vary in scale and feature intricate, colourful images drawn from James’s life and experiences.

Born into a Romany Gypsy family in 1950s Essex, James was taught how to sew by his grandmother. He left his family at nine years old and spent his early life on the road or running away from various homes and authorities. Aged 13, James spent time at a training centre in Essex where his sewing abilities developed further. In 1981 James found Barrington Farm in Norfolk, where his artistic talents flourished, and exhibition opportunities began to arise.

In 2013 James won the Norwich Assembly House Art Show prize and the Outside In Award as part of Radical Craft: Alternative Ways of Making (2016). This led to The Dreams (2017), a solo show at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester. He also won the Brown&Co prize at Inheritance: Norwich Castle Open Art Show in 2018, and two of his stitched works were purchased by the Norfolk Museums Service Costume and Textile Collection in 2019. In 2024 James was invited to be part of Kaleidoscopic Realms at Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery.