Join us for a conversation between artist Woody De Othello and Public Art Fund Assistant Curator Jenée Daria Strand as they discuss Guardian Spirit, Othello’s first public art exhibition in New York City, on view at Brooklyn Bridge Park through March 2027. Othello’s sculptures reflect his deep research and long engagement with nkisi. In Western and Central African contexts, nkisi is known as any object or material that is designated with spiritual energy and, thus, provides spiritual protection to the place it inhabits or the person who owns it. Othello’s works reference everyday objects—phones, combs, instruments, and more—and subtly nod to traditions of nkisi, specifically the ways objects become an extension of our feelings, emotions, and thus, spirits.

Attend in person at The Cooper Union’s Frederick P. Rose Auditorium. Registration is required, and capacity is limited. Seating is first come, first served so please arrive early. Your registration does not guarantee a seat. Doors will close at 6:45pm. Register here for free.

Woody De Othello (b. 1991, Miami) works primarily in clay and bronze, manipulating mundane objects such as clocks, calendars, phones, and box fans to transform them into warped, uncanny repositories of psychic significance. This approach builds on the West and Central African concept of nkisi, in which objects contain and release spiritual forces; for Othello, each work is a vessel, even when it is physically sealed. His two-dimensional works also present surrealistic distortions of scale and temporality, invoking the familiar but confounding legibility. He lives in Oakland, California. Recent institutional solo exhibitions include coming forth by day, currently on view at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (2021–22), and San José Museum of Art, California (2019). His work was included in the 2022 Whitney Biennial, Quiet as It’s Kept. Othello’s work is represented in the collections of the Aïshti 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 Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Pérez Art Museum Miami; Rennie Museum, Vancouver; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; San José Museum of Art; Seattle Art Museum; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Public Art Fund Talks, organized in collaboration with The Cooper Union, connect compelling contemporary artists to a broad public by establishing a dialogue about artistic practices and public art. The Talks series features internationally renowned artists who offer insights into artmaking and its personal, social, and cultural contexts. The core values of creative expression and democratic access to culture and learning shared by both Public Art Fund and The Cooper Union are embodied in this ongoing collaboration. In the spirit of accessibility to the broadest and most diverse public, the Talks are offered free of charge.