Woody De Othello. “Reverence,” 2026. “Awareness,” 2026, “Listening,” 2026. Redwood. Photo: Nicholas Knight, courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY. Presented by Public Art Fund as a part of “Woody De Othello: Guardian Spirit” at Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York City, May 5, 2026-March 8, 2027
A new exhibition exploring the ritual of everyday objects opened along the waterfront in Brooklyn Bridge Park this week. Presented by the Public Art Fund, “Guardian Spirit” by Woody De Othello consists of three redwood totems, between 20 and 22 feet tall, and four large-scale bronze sculptures, inspired by “nkisi,” ritual objects from Western and Central Africa that “embody spiritual presences and channel protective or healing forces.” Located in Pier 1 and at the intersection of Washington Street and Plymouth Street in Dumbo, “Guardian Spirit” is De Othello’s first solo public exhibition in New York City.
The exhibition includes four large-scale bronze sculptures and three totemic redwood sculptures that are designed to respond to the park’s openness and proximity to the water. De Othello carved the totems from compressed blocks of wood using chainsaws and grinders, with each structure filled with symbolic reliefs.
There are outstretched hands depicting compassion, kneeling figures for reverence, ears for listening, and birds for freedom. The sculptures will weather with the environment and the passage of time.
De Othello typically works in clay and bronze, utilizing everyday objects like clocks and phones, and transforming them into something intimate.
“For me, anything in the material world has the potential to become a ritual object,” Othello said in a statement. “Before something exists physically, it begins as a thought. Sculpture is a way of pointing back to that unseen space, to the breath, the wind, the shared consciousness we’re all part of.”
The sculpture “thought in mind” consists of a large bronze phone and a comb, hinting at the objects’ outsized importance. “Capacity,” “inner knowing,” and “Involution” feature trumpet horn-shaped appendages merging with ears and hands, revealing a connection between sensation and emotion, inspired by nkisi.
“Woody De Othello creates sculptures that feel both intimate and monumental,” Jenée-Daria Strand, Assistant Curator at Public Art Fund, said.
“He invites us to consider how art can hold space: for protection, for memory, and for connection, while ensuring the work remains approachable and playful, through his use of recognizable objects. In Brooklyn Bridge Park, these works open outward, engaging the environment and the public.”
“Guardian Spirit” will be on view through March 8, 2027. Learn more about the exhibition here.
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