L. Brent Kington

Creative blacksmithing was a relatively slow starter within the postwar studio craft movement. The craft itself had not fallen entirely into disuse because of its importance at historic sites such as Colonial Williamsburg. But its reintroduction as a progressive art medium only occurred in the late 1960s, primarily through the efforts of Brent Kington. A central figure in the American metalwork scene (he was the first president of the Society of North American Goldsmiths, and a founder of the Artist Blacksmith’s Association of North America), Kington trained several generations at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he taught for almost forty years.

His own work was widely informed by the history of his medium, from Baroque ironwork to American folk art to Arts and Crafts luminaries such as Samuel Yellin. The sculptural weathervane shown here, which is retained in the artist’s family, abstracts these various stylistic references while also staging a remarkable balancing act. It is an impressive testament to Kington’s artisanal skill and formal daring.

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