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Woody De Othello

Woody De Othello (b. 1991, Miami, Florida) is a Miami-born, California-based artist whose subject matter spans household objects, bodily features, and  the natural world. Everyday artifacts of the domestic tables, chairs,  television remotes, telephone receivers, lamps, air purifiers, et cet era—are anthropomorphized in glazed ceramic, bronze, wood, and  glass. Othello’s sense of humor manifests across his work in visual  puns and cartoonish figuration. “I choose objects that are already  very human,” says Othello. “The objects mimic actions that humans perform; they’re extensions of our own actions. We use phones to  speak and to listen, clocks to tell time, vessels to hold things, and  our bodies are indicators of all of those.” Othello’s scaled-up  representations of these objects often slump over, overcome with  gravity, as if exhausted by their own use. This sophisticated gravitational effect is a central formal challenge in his work. Informed by his own Haitian ancestry, Othello takes interest in the supernatural  objects of Vodou folklore, nkisi figures, and other animist artifacts that inspire him. 

Recent solo exhibitions include Stephen Friedman Gallery, London (2024); Karma, New York (2022, 2019); John Michael Kohler Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (2021–22); Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco (2021); Nina Johnson, Miami (2020); Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2020); San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California (2019). His work was included in Quiet as It’s Kept, the 2022 Whitney Biennial. De Othello’s work is represented in the collections of the Aishti Foundation, Beirut; Baltimore Museum of Art; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California; Dallas Museum of Art; de Young Museum, San Francisco; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Art, Rome; Museum of Fine Art, Boston; Pérez Art Museum, Miami; Rennie Collection, Vancouver; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California; Seattle Art Museum; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Single work, Woody De Othello

Born 1991, Miami
Lives and works in Oakland, California

EDUCATION

2017

MFA, California College of Arts, San Francisco

2013

BFA, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024

Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, Faith Like a Rock

2022

Karma, New York, Maybe tomorrow

2021-22

John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Hope Omens

2021

Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, Looking In

2020

Lulu, Mexico City
Nina Johnson, Miami, Woody De Othello: Coming to Light
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, The Box

2019

Karma, New York, To live in hope.
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California, Breathing Room

2018

Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, Living Room

2016

Quality, Oakland, California, Lights Out Night Out
Old New England, Berkeley, California, Real Life Still Life
UFO Gallery, Berkeley, California, Patty’s Mashed Potatoes

2015

Unit 1, Lake Worth, Florida, It’s Going To Be Okay

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023

Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, California, Cathartic Creatures

Museum of Arts and Design, New York, Funk You Too! Humor and Irreverence in Ceramic Sculpture

Canal Projects, New York, Dwelling

Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California, WARES! Extraordinary Ceramics and the Ordinary Home

Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, California, Fight and Flight: Crafting a Bay Area Life

Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts, Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina

2022-23

San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, Home/Work

Hayward Gallery, London, Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina

Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery, Washington D.C., This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World

2022

Timothy Taylor, London, A Thing for the Mind

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept

Pence Gallery, Davis, On the Edge: CCA Clay

2021

San José Museum of Art, San José, Our whole, unruly selves

Reynold Gallery, Richmond, Virginia, Day Tripping

Deitch Projects, New York, Clay Pop
Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, We Are Here
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Close to Home: Creativity in Crisis

2020-21

Center for Craft, Asheville, North Carolina, Sleight of Hand

2020

Nassima-Landau Project, Tel Aviv, High Voltage

Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, California, Justice
Matthew Brown Gallery, Los Angeles, Material Conditions
NCECA Conference, Richmond, Virginia, The Burdens of History
Karma, New York, (Nothing but) Flowers
Fisher Parrish, New York, The Essential Goods Show
Nina Johnson, Miami, Coming to Light

NCECA Conference, Richmond, The Burdens of History

2019

Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, Roommates
33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljublijana, Slovenia
Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, San José State University, California, Planned Obsolescence
Friedman Benda, New York, Blow Up, curated by Felix Burrichter

2018

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, Bay Area Now 8
Jessica Silverman Gallery at 288 Pacific, San Francisco, Horizon Lines
Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, Kinship
Front International Cleveland Triennial For Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Karma, New York, Kinder Gentler Nation
Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, From the Ground Up

2017

Sonoma State University Art Gallery, California, Working TWO Scale: New Bay Area Ceramic Sculpture
Johansson Projects, Oakland, California, Matt Kleberg and Woody De Othello
Gallery T293, Rome, Homo Mundus Minor
Perry Family Event Center, San Francisco, 30th Annual Barclay Simpson Master of Fine Arts Award Exhibition
Alter Space at Minnesota Street Projects, San Francisco, To Speak of Trees

2016

Hubbell Street Gallery, San Francisco, All College Honors
College Avenue Gallery, Oakland, California, Rocks and Socks
The Rideau Curling Club, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Ottawa Makers Market
7264 North Miami Court, Miami, Clay Bodies

2015

5&J Gallery, Lubbock, Texas, Grayscale
Fat Village Projects, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Possessed
Armory Arts Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, Resident Exit Show

2014

Unit 1, Lake Worth, Florida, The Contenders
Fat Village Projects, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Monstrous Strange
Fat Village Projects, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Acid Reflux
Unit 1, Lake Worth, Florida, The Strange Ones
Palm Beach Cultural Council, Lake Worth, Florida, Southern Exposure: New Work Now
White Space Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida, Outside The Box 2
Artserve, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fluidity
Nathan H. Wilson Center, Jacksonville, Florida, All Florida Ceramics Invitational

2013

World and Eye Arts Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Small Wonders
Ritter Art Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida, Apex: Fall 2013 BFA Exhibition
Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, Inferno
Northern Trust Bank, Boca Raton, Florida, College of Arts & Letters Dean’s Reception
Artserve, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Red Eye Art
Arts Council of Martin County, Stuart, Florida, Lounge Series
Arts Council of Martin County, Stuart, Florida, Arts After Darks

2012

Atlantic Center of The Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, 23rd Annual University Juried Student Exhibition
Thirty Three Seconds, Legal Art, Miami, Four Minutes

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Aishti Foundation, Lebanon
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento

Dallas Museum of Art
The de Young Museum, San Francisco
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Art, Rome
Museum of Fine Art, Boston
Pérez Art Museum, Miami
Rennie Collection, Vancouver, British Columbia
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Jose Museum of Art, California
Seattle Art Museum, Washington
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

 

AWARDS AND GRANTS

2018

SFO International Terminal Boarding Area G Outdoor Terrace Commission

2017

Toby Devan Lewis Award

2016

Barclay Simpson Award, California College of the Arts, San Francisco
CCA Merit Scholarship, California College of the Arts, San Francisco

2015

CCA All College Honors, California College of the Arts, San Francisco
CCA Merit Scholarship, California College of the Arts, San Francisco

2013

Claire V. Dorst Scholarship, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
Runner-up of Fine Art in Creative Quarterly
John McCoy Scholarship, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
Rothenberger Endowed Scholarship for Humanities, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida

2012

Marvin and Eileen Reingold Contemporary Ceramics Collection

2011

Rothenberger Endowed Scholarship for Humanities: Printmaking, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida

RESIDENCIES

2020

John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

2018

Liquitex Research Residency, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco

2016

Old New England, Berkeley, California

2015

Pentaculum Resident, Arrowmont, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Sculpture Artist in Residence, Armory Arts Center, West Palm Beach, Florida

Publications

2018

Woody De Othello, Where I Live Inside
Karma, New York
36 pages, staple bound
11 × 8 1/2 inches

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