Our Neighbor Bill: curated by Avery Jennings, and in partnership with The William Kent Art Foundation

Meet our newest visual arts exhibition, Our Neighbor Bill, featuring the astonishing work of William Kent and curated by Avery Jennings.

Our Neighbor Bill will be on view in the Workshop Gallery starting the evening of June 26 until August 9.

An exhibition of work by William Kent, in partnership with the William Kent Art Foundation Curated by Avery Jennings

Our Neighbor Bill celebrates and explores the multifaceted artwork of William Kent (1919-2012), a New England artist based in Durham, CT, whose work as a master sculptor and print innovator secured him a solid place in American art of the 1960s, and beyond.

Bill worked tirelessly for nearly half a century in his Durham studio, a former chicken barn with his tiny residence attached to it. Over the years, most people driving past the barn in this semi-rural setting little suspected that this “neighbor” was one of the world’s master sculptors and printmakers. He lived and worked alone, kept to a rigid schedule seven days a week, chiseling and sanding and chipping and carving on each carefully planned piece. And, over the decades, his barn began to fill with his creations, a menagerie of giant sculpted shell beans, shoes, forks, cephalopods and many other remarkable objects. He was also creating the startling slate prints that first caught the eyes of New York gallery owners and landed his work in the prestigious Whitney Biennial.