Horace Lindezey + The Making Rooms

We Are Gathered Here Together was rooted in occasion and ceremony; from the dates we were born and the celebration of marriage, to the day we die.

The exhibition, which presented brand new work alongside some of the artist’s most popular pieces, took visitors on a journey through these “special occasional days”.

Lindezey explored the use of digital technologies at The Making Rooms, allowing him to create work on a larger scale and at greater speed. Though aided by machinery, the work remained highly personal and hand-making featured throughout, with elements also worked by hand at the Venture Arts studio.

Conversation forms a central part of Lindezey’s practice and has remained so throughout this residency. From those he’s chatted with passing through The Making Rooms, to his journeys from Manchester to Blackburn on the train, the people he’s met have shaped the work.

If you were fortunate enough to meet Horace, he might have asked for your birthdate and shared the number one song from that day. These dates were later turned into an illustrated wallpaper, which was featured in his exhibition during the Festival Weekend.

You can now explore this unique playlist on Spotify.

Split into three parts, one area of the exhibition focused on ‘births’, with a list of the names of people he had interacted with, the year they were born, and an iconic song released that year – specific knowledge Lindezey holds. In ‘marriages’, a huge wedding table was set for 24 iconic guests, inspired by Lindezey’s fond memories of watching TV.

Finally, in a space representing the experience of a funeral ceremony, approximately 60 of the artist’s iconic blue plaques could be found in a reflective space, whilst in stark contrast to the rest of the show, the pieces remained witty and engaging.

Visitors were invited to enter Lindezey’s world through music, personal expressions, and his unique perspective on connecting people, time and place.

The Artist

Horace Lindezey has been a practising artist and maker at Venture Arts in Manchester for over 30 years, working predominantly in ceramics and textiles. After exhibiting in the 2023 National Festival of Making in the group show, YESS LAD, Lindezey, was commissioned to return this year with his first solo exhibition.

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The Manufacturer

​​The Making Rooms is a place where creativity, technology and advanced manufacturing come together in a community facility for use by artists, inventors, students, children and just about everyone else to design and make anything from high-tech products and gadgets to toys, artworks, home decorations and accessibility devices.

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Funders and Partners

This residency was supported by Caroline Tattersall, Venture Arts Ceramics Facilitator and Artist Support and Kim Stuttard, Creative Alliance Intern at The Making Rooms.

Venture Arts is an award-winning visual arts organisation in Manchester, working with learning disabled artists. Through their studio programmes, exhibitions and collaborative projects, they remove barriers to the arts. They put artists in the lead; they champion neurodiversity and provide pathways for every individual to develop their creative identity.

With thanks to: Jacenta Sellars, Ali Ellis, Laura Nathan and Louisa Hammond from Venture Arts; Clay Studios for donating studio and kiln hire; Mollies contemporary art collection for loaning 8 blue plaques; Wedgewood Ceramics for donating bisque-fired plates; Torrecid for donating glazes and everyone who took part in porcelain flower making workshops.

I can’t wait to see all the elements come together in the final exhibition and I’m certain it will wow the audience as much as Horace will charm them.

Kim Stuttard, Creative Alliance Associate, The Making Rooms

I enjoyed meeting Kim, she’s a lovely lady, I enjoyed getting the train and working with Caroline Tattersall and talking about weddings. I talked to Emma, she was born the same year as Miley Cyrus… Smiley Miley.

Horace Lindezey, Artist

Photography by Danny Allison, Emma Colbert-Mooring and Robin Zahler.