Zoe Watson (she/her) is Contemporary Curator at Lowry, running a dedicated contemporary art programme of free temporary exhibitions, events and performances alongside the world’s largest collection of work by Manchester-born painter L.S Lowry. Her curatorial interests revolve around supporting artists to do ambitious, experimental work in a public-facing setting. As an arts venue that hosts two theatres alongside the galleries, Lowry is an ideal place to continue her interests in exploring the intersection of performance and visual art.
Zoe has shaped a curatorial programme at Lowry engaging with artists at all stages in their careers, supporting the local artistic community – particularly through long term development projects – as well as introducing established artists to Salford for the first time. Recent exhibitions and commissions have included working with Hew Locke, Paloma Proudfoot, Renee So, Jo Lathwood, Nikta Mohammadi, Aliyah Hussain and Venture Arts.
Zoe has long been embedded in Manchester and Salford’s arts scene. Previously, she ran the Holden Gallery at Manchester School of Art supporting artists to develop ambitious solo presentations of work, including Simeon Barclay, Yelena Popova, Sofya Shpurova and Lothar Götz. She also developed a performance programme called Interruptions, allowing for more ephemeral one-off projects to be realised.
