Woody De Othello facts for kids

Woody De Othello is an American artist known for his unique ceramic sculptures and paintings. He was born in 1991 and creates art that often features everyday objects with a twist. Woody De Othello lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

About Woody De Othello

Early Life and Art School

Woody De Othello was born in 1991 in Miami, Florida. His family background is Haitian. He loved art from a young age and decided to study it in college.

He earned his first art degree, a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Later, he went on to get a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco in 2017. This is where he learned many of the skills he uses today.

What Kind of Art Does He Make?

Woody De Othello is famous for his sculptures, especially those made from ceramic. He often takes ordinary things you might find around your house, like a fan or a radiator, and turns them into art. But he doesn't just copy them; he makes them look exaggerated or even gives them human-like features, such as hands and legs. His art can make you think about the objects we use every day in a new way. He also creates interesting paintings and drawings.

One of his well-known sculptures is an eight-foot-tall bronze fan called Cool Composition. This giant yellow fan sculpture got a lot of attention when it was shown at a big art fair called Art Basel in Miami Beach in 2019.

Where His Art Has Been Shown

Woody De Othello's art has been displayed in many important places. In 2019, the San Jose Museum of Art hosted a special show of his work called Woody De Othello: Breathing Room. His art was also chosen for the 2022 Whitney Biennial, which is a very important art exhibition in New York City that happens every two years. For this show, he created an installation called The will to make things happen, which included his unique domestic objects and human-like ceramic vessels.

He has also shown his work in galleries and museums in other cities, including London and Miami. His art is part of the permanent collections at several major museums, meaning they own his artwork and display it for everyone to see. These include the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami.

Inspiration for His Work

Woody De Othello finds inspiration from different places. He has mentioned being interested in the pottery made by enslaved potters from South Carolina, like David Drake. He also looks at ancient Yoruba pottery from Africa, which has a long history and unique styles. These influences help him create his own modern and meaningful art.

Exhibitions

Woody De Othello's art has been featured in many exhibitions:

• UFO Gallery, Berkeley, California (2016)
• Quality, Oakland, California (2016)
• Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco (2018)
• Karma, New York (2019)
• 33rd Ljublijana Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljublijana, Slovenia (2019)
• San Jose Museum of Art, California (2019–2020)
• Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2020)
• Nina Johnson, Miami (2020)
• Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco (2021)
• Woody de Othello: Hope Omens, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (2021–2022)
• 2022 Whitney Biennial: Quiet as It's Kept (2022)

Collections

Woody De Othello's artwork can be found in the collections of several important contemporary art museums:

• Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California
• Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.