James Clegg

Job title:

Curator

Department:

Talbot Rice Gallery

Office address:

Talbot Rice Gallery, Old College

Leading on or supporting the main programme at Talbot Rice Gallery, I am involved in exhibition-making, public engagement, widening participation and a broader art-writing practice. ‘The Accursed Share’ (2022) was a critically acclaimed exhibition that explored monetary debt at the time of the cost of living crisis – an angry look at the roots of profound inequality it was about land use, resources and people, a global picture of colonisation as a historical and ongoing process. ‘Pine’s Eye’ (2020) was a major group exhibition about the political and cultural relationships people have to nature, encapsulating many of my interests: in Indigenous rights, ecological thinking and post-colonial subjects. I co-curated ‘The Normal’ (2021), ‘The Extended Mind’ (2019/20) and have curated solo shows including John Akomfrah’s ‘Vertigo Sea’ (2017) and Rob Kennedy's 'acts of dis play' (2016).

Teaching

I contribute to teaching and learning across ECA and beyond, talking from professional experience about how to write effectively about art and how to make exhibitions. Previously a lecturer, designing courses around modern and postmodern art, I can adapt material around a broad range of Art Historical concerns. I am also proud to work with Crisis Scotland, the Ragged University, Shotts Prison and local primary schools as part of my outreach work for Talbot Rice Gallery.