Who is James Payton?

Set eight months after the death of writer Cass Horsely following a series of intrusive articles in the press, Vitality tells the story of six of his closest friends attending an event to celebrate his life.

Is gender a life sentence? Is masculinity directly linked to violence and oppression? British artist Martin Firrell spent 2017 making a public work to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1967 sexual offences act in England and Wales, where homosexual men were finally decriminalised. Alongside this, Martin called for the abolishing of gender labelling, engaging with contemporary business leaders, activists and academics in debate about how they represent gender to both their staff and customers. The culmination of the work saw a country wide takeover of digital billboards in public spaces displaying text from historical quotes that strike directly to the heart of the debate.