Dan Guthrie: Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure

Chisenhale Gallery presents Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure, a major new commission and first institutional exhibition in London by artist Dan Guthrie. Working primarily with moving image, Guthrie’s practice explores representations and mis-representations of Black Britishness. By deliberately experimenting with form and language, Guthrie probes the limits of visual representation—questioning not only what is shown, but what remains unseen or unsayable on screen. This exploration encompasses the politics of visibility itself, asking how race, memory, and subjectivity are shaped by the act of looking.

This new commission continues Guthrie’s long-standing engagement with the Blackboy Clock, an object of contested heritage publicly displayed in his hometown of Stroud, Gloucestershire. The clock, which incorporates a wooden blackamoor figure in its design, was originally assembled by a local watchmaker in 1774, during the height of the transatlantic slave trade. Relocated to a specially constructed alcove on the front of a former schoolhouse in 1844, the clock was restored in 1977 and 2004, and has remained a constant presence in Stroud throughout Guthrie’s life.

Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure presents two videos that put forward the “radical un-conservation” of the clock—a new theoretical concept proposed by Guthrie to describe the strategic acquisition of an object in order to destroy it. Across both videos, audio description and captions reject standardised, impersonal modes of description in favour of poetic interpretation and emotionally resonant dialogue—embedding access deeply into the aesthetic and political fabric of Guthrie’s commission.

Central to this body of work are questions about what society chooses to memorialise and its methods for doing so. Alongside this exhibition, Guthrie has developed a new online platform documenting the clock’s timeline—from its historical origins to current debates over its future. This digital archive is accessible via earf.info.

Dan Guthrie’s exhibition continues Chisenhale Gallery’s Commissions Programme for 2025, which includes exhibitions by Claudia Pagès Rabal and Grant Mooney. All working in response to site, these artists exercise a sensitivity toward social, political, and material histories that continue to shape our surroundings and relation to the world.

Exhibition Events
Chisenhale Gallery works with artists to create a series of events that span Commissions and Social Practice.

Walkthrough
Saturday, June 14, 11am–12pm
A walkthrough of Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure led by artist Dan Guthrie and Assistant Curator Oscar Abdulla, exploring themes of race, memory and subjectivity within the exhibition.

Conversation
Wednesday, June 25, 7–8:30pm
An in-depth conversation between artist Dan Guthrie and writer Olamiju Fajemisin exploring the themes, process, and influences behind Guthrie’s newly commissioned work.

Sound
Thursday, August 7, 7–8pm
An evening of sound with artist Tati au Miel, blending experimentation, abstraction, storytelling, and ritual in response to Guthrie’s new commission.

All events are free to attend, but booking is essential. Please visit chisenhale.org.uk

We are committed to ensuring our events are accessible for all. Please contact mail@chisenhale.org.uk to discuss any access needs. We will endeavour to meet all requests where possible. Please be advised that requests should be made two weeks in advance of the event.

Biography
Dan Guthrie lives and works in the UK. Selected exhibitions and screenings include: Absent Forces, Open City Documentary Film Festival, 2024; Two Films, VOLT, Devonshire Collective, Eastbourne, 2023; 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; Right of Way, LUX, London, 2023; and Short Film Programme, Whitstable Biennale, Whitstable, 2022.

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.

With special thanks to our Events Drinks Sponsor: Estrella Damm.

The website earf.info is co-published by Chisenhale Gallery and Spike Island.

With the generous support of Frank Bowling and Rachel Scott.

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.