Credits
This website – earf.info – was created on the occasion of the exhibition Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure by Dan Guthrie at Spike Island, Bristol (8 February – 11 May 2025) and Chisenhale Gallery, London (6 June – 17 August 2025).
Dan Guthrie is an artist who often works with words and the moving image to explore representations and mis-representations of Black Britishness. Selected exhibitions and screenings include: Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure, Spike Island and Chisenhale Gallery, 2025 (solo); Absent Forces, Open City Documentary Festival, 2024; Two Films, Devonshire Collective, Eastbourne, 2023 (solo); Spirit Messages touring programme, aemi, 2023–2024; Selected 13 touring programme, FLAMIN and videoclub, 2023; wave 4, Prismatic Ground, New York, 2023; Forum Expanded, Berlinale, Berlin, 2023; and Right of Way, LUX, London, 2023. In 2024, Guthrie was shortlisted for The Arts Foundation Visual Arts Award and awarded a DRABL Artist Grant.
Spike Island supports, produces and presents contemporary art and culture across an 80,000 square foot former industrial building in Bristol. Its diverse artistic programme includes free major exhibitions, events and engagement activities taking place on-site and online. Championing outstanding work by emerging and underrepresented local, national and international artists, the programme enhances access to contemporary art for audiences from all backgrounds.
Chisenhale Gallery was founded by artists. The same experimental vision and spirit of possibility that changed an empty veneer factory and brewery warehouse into an art gallery guides the programme today. Chisenhale Gallery commissions and produces contemporary art, publishes books and online material, and actively engages in social projects.
WEBSITE CREDITS
Editors: Olivia Aherne, Carmen Juliá
Assistant Editor: Rachel Be-Yun Wang
Editorial Support: Phoebe Cripps
Research Assistants: Holly Antrum, Tommy Madison
Web Development: An Endless Supply
With the generous support of Frank Bowling and Rachel Scott.
Exhibition Credits
Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure is commissioned and produced by Chisenhale Gallery, London, and Spike Island, Bristol.
Headline Supporter: Henry Moore Foundation
With additional support from the Chisenhale Gallery Commissions Fund.
Chisenhale Gallery’s Schools’ Programme 2025 is made possible through the generosity of Goodman Gallery.
The 2025–26 Asymmetry Curatorial Research Fellow is hosted by Chisenhale Gallery.
Empty Alcove
Lead Artist: Dan Guthrie
Camera Operator: Holly Antrum
Sound Recordist and Sound Designer: Felix Taylor
Colourist: Nielsan Bohl
Producers: Olivia Aherne for Chisenhale Gallery, Carmen Juliá for Spike Island
Assistant Producer: Oscar Abdulla for Chisenhale Gallery
Captioning: Carefuffle Collective and Dan Guthrie
Audio Description: SoundScribe and Dan Guthrie
Rotting Figure
Lead Artist: Dan Guthrie
CG Designer and Animator: Salvi De Sena
Sound Recordist and Sound Designer: Felix Taylor
Producers: Olivia Aherne for Chisenhale Gallery, Carmen Juliá for Spike Island
Assistant Producer: Oscar Abdulla for Chisenhale Gallery
Captioning: Carefuffle Collective and Dan Guthrie
Audio Description: SoundScribe and Dan Guthrie
Dan Guthrie would like to thank: All of my collaborators and co-conspirators, the teams at Spike Island and Chisenhale Gallery, The Arts Foundation, Ben Broome, Caraboo Projects, the Cast in Stone team, Devonshire Collective, Ama Dogbe, Mae-Li Evans, Sarah Hayden, Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking, Hospitalfield, Siavash Minoukadeh, Hannah Rose, Stroud District Council, my friends, my family, and most importantly, my parents.
Contact
If you have any thoughts or questions about this website or the wider project, please send them to info@earf.info – this inbox will be monitored on a regular basis during the exhibition dates.
Illustration by Gwyn Willey, in Ramon R. Willey’s The Black Boy School, Stroud 1844–1914, 1970. Edited by Dan Guthrie, 2024.