Godfrey Worsdale
Director, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art

Godfrey Worsdale began his curatorial career in the early 1990s at the British Museum, working in the Department of Prints and Drawings. At the same time he established Cultural Instructions, a new independent gallery for contemporary art in London. He moved to Southampton City Art Gallery as Curator in 1995 and within three years was appointed Director where he oversaw exhibitions featuring works from Jake and Dinos Chapman, Jane & Louise Wilson, Tracey Emin and solo shows from Chris Ofili and Martin Creed.

In 2002 he was appointed Founding Director of mima, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, overseeing its build and subsequent launch. He co-curated the debut exhibition Draw which presented drawings by some of the most significant artists of the 20th century; works by Picasso, Pollock and Warhol exhibited in relationship to works by a number of outstanding contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst, DJ Simpson and Gavin Turk. Other highlights from mima’s first year programme included the critically acclaimed Bauhaus exhibition. Following a very successful six year term in Middelsbrough Worsdale was, in 2008, appointed Director of BALTIC, the major international centre for contemporary art situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead.

Worsdale has developed a reputation as a prolific writer about art for a variety of publications and catalogues. He joined the judging panel of the Zoo Art Fair in 2007 and the Paul Hamlyn Awards in 2008 and is the Vice Chairman of the UK’s Visual Art and Galleries Association.