USA Projects

Kenny Cole

kenny@kennycole.com

www.kennycole.com

41 West Main Street

Monroe, Maine 04951

207 322-5243 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

 

2013 "Parabellum" – Zillman Gallery,UMMA / Bangor, Maine

2012 "As High As Heaven" – Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2011 "Darfur on Our Doorstep" – Meg Perry Center / Portland, Maine

2011 "Gold, God, Guns & Girls"" – Monkitree Gallery / Gardiner, Maine

2010 "The Hellfire Story" – Space Gallery / Portland, Maine

2010 "Awash in Gouache: Submarine Paintings on Paper" – Water Closet Gallery/Portland, Maine

2009 "Improbabilities"– Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2008 "These Colors Don't Run" – Barbara Kramer Exhibition Space-Belfast Free Library / Belfast, Maine

2007 "While Rome Burns" – Riverside Cafe / Ellsworth, Maine

2006 "Prison Papers" – Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2005 "Operation 21 Prayer Salute" – Stadler Gallery / Kingfield, Maine

2005 "Black and Blue" – Gibbs Library / Washington, Maine

2004 "Staying the Course" – Searsmont Library / Searsmont, Maine

2004 "Bring It On" – Barbara Kramer Exhibition Space-Belfast Free Library / Belfast, Maine

2003 "Crying Uncle" – Railroad Square Cinema / Waterville, Maine

2003 "Oily Business" – Bett's Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2002 "20/20 Hindsight" – Stadler Gallery / Kingfield, Maine

2002 "Of Mice and Man" – Improv Nights/Larraine Brown Studio / Belfast, Maine

1996 "New Works" – Jane Sanford's Studio / Belfast, Maine

1995 "New Work" – Bell the Cat / Belfast, Maine

1995 "The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions" – Bell the Cat / Belfast, Maine

1984 "New Years Eve" – 8 B.C. / NYC

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

 

2012 "…And So It Was Said" – SlopLand Effluence Express (shippable showroom franchise)

2012 "Selections" – The Kingston Museum of Contemporary Art / Kingston, New York

2011 "9-11 Memorial Postcard Project" - Pierogi 2000 Gallery / Brooklyn, New York

2011 "The Guest Room" – Paula Lalala MVSEVM / Cornwallville, New York

2011 "Anything Goes"– Bett's Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2011 "10 Year Anniversary Show" – Stadler Gallery / Kingfield, Maine

2011 "Worlds Seen and Foreseen"– Downtown area Windows / Skowhegan Maine

2011 "Worlds Seen and Foreseen"– Storefront Window/Space Gallery / Portland, Maine

2011 "44N 69W: Radius Belfast"– Aarhus Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2011 "The Sketchbook Project" – Brooklyn Art Library / Brooklyn, NY, Austin, TX, Portland, ME

2011 "The Operative Word" – Bridge Gallery / Chicago, IL

 

2010 "Creative Maine: The Works of Local Artists" – Monkitree Gallery / Gardiner, Maine

2010 "Small Works" – Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2010 "Our Lives After 9-11" - INN Studios / New York, NY

2010 "Explorations" – Stadler Gallery / Kingfield, Maine

2010 "Art From 'MUSEUMS' Zine" – Islington Mill/ Manchester, U.K.

2010 "CMCA Biennial 2010" – Center for Maine Contemporary Art / Rockport, Maine

2010 "44N 69W: Radius Belfast"– Aarhus Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2010 "Branching Out: Taking Wing" – Clifford Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2010 "Food For Thought 2" – Maine Farmland Trust Gallery / Belfast, Maine

 

2009 "Small Works" - Bett's Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2009 "Small Works 2009"– Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2009 "Envelope/Envelop" – The Drawing Room / Portland, Maine

2009 "Empty the Fridge" – The Drawing Room / Portland, Maine

2009 "Small Works" – Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2009 "Night of 1000 Drawings" – Artists Space / NYC

2009 "Arts for Hunger" – Unity Centre for the Performing Arts / Unity, Maine

2009 "Pierogi A Go Go" – Pierogi 2000 Gallery / Brooklyn, New York

2009 "Food For Thought"– Blum Gallery / Bar Harbor, Maine

2009 "Mother" – Bett's Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2009 "Red"– Aarhus Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2009 "Wrong Side of the Tracks"– 1067 Broadway / Renssalaer, New York

2009 "44N 69W: Radius Belfast"– Aarhus Gallery / Belfast, Maine

 

2008 "Branching Out: Code Red" – Clifford Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2008 "Art Extravaganza" – Aarhaus Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2008 "Small Works" – Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2008 "Night of 1000 Drawings" – Artists Space / NYC

2008 "First Traces" – Center for Maine Contemporary Art / Rockport, Maine

2008 "Arts for Hunger" – Unity Centre for the Performing Arts / Unity, Maine

2008 "Soul Quilt" – Blue Marble Gallery / Waterville, Maine

2008 "Wonder Fair" – Lawrence, Kansas

2008 "Treading Lightly, One Foot at a Time" – Clifford Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2008 "Chaos" – Aarhaus Gallery / Belfast, Maine

 

2007 "Small Works" – Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2007 "Branching Out": Rivers and Streams"– Waterfall Arts / Belfast, Maine

2007 "Arts for Hunger" – Unity Centre for the Performing Arts / Unity, Maine

2007 "Night of 1000 Drawings" – Artists Space / NYC

2007 "Message in a Bottle" – 3rd Annual Belfast Poetry Festival/Belfast, Maine

2007 "Time Out: Art Created During Residencies" – C.M.C.A./ Rockport, Maine

2007 "New Blood: Exquisite Corpses Near and Far" – Clifford Gallery / Belfast, Maine

 

2006 "Small Works" – Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2006 "Branching Out: Trees" – Waterfall Arts / Belfast, Maine

2006 "Night of 1000 Drawings" – Artists Space / NYC

2006 "Arts Center at Kingdom Falls Faculty/Board Show" – Corridor Gallery / Belfast, Maine

2006 "Art Club" – Jane Sanford's Studio / Belfast. Maine

 

2005 "Night of 1000 Drawings" – Artists Space / NYC

2005 "Small Portions of the Eternal World" – Camden Library / Camden, Maine

2005 "WarFlowers: From Swords to Plowshares" – Area Gallery, U.S.M. / Portland, Maine

2005 "The Wood Show" – Center for Maine Contemporary Art / Rockport, Maine

2005 "Arts Center at Kingdom Falls Faculty/Board Show" Perimeter Gallery / Belfast, Maine

 

2004 "Night of 1000 Drawings" – Artists Space / NYC

2004 "Pierogi A Go Go" – Pierogi 2000 Gallery / Brooklyn, New York

2004 "Eliminating Racism: Building the Planet We Want" – Galeyrie / Falmouth, Maine

 

2003 "Composition 101" – Center for Maine Contemporary Art / Rockport, Maine

2003 "Ex-Space Projects: Book Market" – Knitting Factory / NYC

2003 "Studio Connections: Artists Supporting Maine PBS" – Art Gallery at UNE / Portland, Maine

2003 "Music Revelations" – Bangor Symphony Orchestra / Bangor, Maine

2003 "Union of Maine Visual Artists" – Camden Library / Camden, Maine

2003 "Culture" – Searsmont Library / Searsmont, Maine

 

2002 "Night of 1000 Drawings" – Artists Space / NYC

2002 "Downeast Looks at Downeast: Route One" – Ellsworth Library / Ellsworth, Maine

2002 "Faculty Show" – Arts Center at Kingdom Falls / Montville, Maine

2002 "Love" – Elements Gallery / Rockland, Maine

2002 "Plugged in Fest" – Center for Maine Contemporary Art / Rockport, Maine

2002 "Union of Maine Visual Artists-Annual Juried Show" – Blum Gallery / Bar Harbor, Maine

2002 "Reactions" – Exit Art / NYC

2001 "Night of 1000 Drawings" – Artists Space / NYC

2001 "Artists Respond to September 11" – Lincoln Street Center / Rockland, Maine

2001 "Show me Your Fish" – Blum Gallery / Bar Harbor, Maine

2001 "Odd Fish, Cod Fish" – Eastport Gallery / Eastport, Maine

2001 "Boat" – Elements Gallery / Rockland, Maine

2001 "Small is Beautiful" – Elements Gallery / Rockland, Maine

2000 "Home" – Elements Gallery / Rockland, Maine

1999 "New England Artist's Trust, 5^th Congress" – Creative Workshop / New Haven, CT

1998 "New to Town" – Davidson & Daughters / Portland, Maine

1998 "Sex and Gender" – Blum Gallery / Bar Harbor, Maine

1995 "Annual Juried Show" – Center for Maine Contemporary Art / Rockport, Maine

1994 "New Island Views" – Newhouse Center at Snug Harbor / Staten Island, NY

1993 "Wall to Wall" – Art Initiatives at Tribeca 148 Gallery / NYC

1991 "Uncertain, Unknown, Uncharted" – The Art Lab at Snug Harbor / Staten Island, NY

1990 "Studio in a School Artists" – Artist's Space / NYC

1990 "Figuring Eros" – Newhouse Center at Snug Harbor / Staten Island, NY

1988 "Uhuru: African and American Art Against Apartheid" – City Without Walls / Newark, NJ

1985 "Forbidden Dreams" – City Without Walls / Newark, NJ

1985 "New Art in the Surrealist Spirit" – City Without Walls / Newark, NJ

1984 "Works on Paper" – Rutgers University / Camden, NJ

1984 "Works on Paper" – City Without Walls / Newark, NJ

1984 "L'Esprit Encyclopedique" – NY Public Library, Tompkins Square Branch / NYC

1984 Kenny Cole/Robert Egert" – 8 B.C. / NYC

1984 "In Heat" - Cat Club / NYC

1984 "Alarm" – Kamikaze / NYC

1983 "That Show" – 301 E. Houston / NYC

1983 "Seriously Silly" – City Without Walls / Newark, NJ

1983 "The Red Show" – Public Image / NYC

1982 "University of Delaware 20^th Biennial" University of Delaware / Newark, Delaware

 

REVIEW, ESSAY AND COMMENT EXCERPTS:

 

"Gold, God, Guns and Girls" Monkitree Gallery, Gardiner, Maine – April 2011 "Cole is not a writer, and yet he uses words - strong ones - like a carpenter uses nails." – Nicholas Schroeder 

Portland Phoenix, November 24, 2010 "And therein lies its genius…Kenny Cole's work contains vital artistic interest without exactly being fit for full consumption." – Nicholas Schroeder

"The Hellfire Story" Space Gallery, Portland, Maine – October 2010 "The cold text rides on a riptide of death and ruination, the boring calm of the words sliding over the darkness of the intention below." - Alan Crichton,

 

Portland Press Herald, June 13, 2010 "Kenny Cole's typographic drawings…charm me in the visual employment of their forms." – Philip Isaacson

The Owl Who Laughs, November 12, 2009 "…and the letters are part of the tenor of the metaphor, which in turn is part of the holism of the overall flourish and energetic ambience of the drawing. And yet the basic semantics of the prose remain integral to the overall effect. In this way, Cole balances aptly on a hypnotic cusp between the literary and the symbolic." – Chris Crittenden

"Improbabilities" Perimeter Gallery, Belfast, Maine - June 2009 " It Is Kenny Cole's peculiar organization of this pandemonium that so intrigues us." – Steve Buckley

"Prison Papers" Perimeter Gallery, Belfast, Maine - November 2006

"A powerful show...A strong and needed indictment of the (modern) weapons (& perpetrators) of war " -Wilson - Hallowell, Maine

"This group is so intense, so dense, it's near to overwhelming." - Julie Rose - Belfast, Maine

"This show should go on the road!! Most of us I fear, have no idea as to the ongoing and accumulative missile power that the U.S. has produced over the years as depicted in your work. Thank you for pricking our conscience as well as giving us a pictorial journey. Truly astounding work, Kenny! " -Beth Henderson - Belfast, Maine

 

The Republican Journal, January 22, 2004 "To see it face to face is a world away from looking at a two dimensional reproduction, and I urge people to go and see the stuff in person." – David Grima

Mayor Mike Hurley, Belfast, Maine - March 13, 2004 "I love the way Kenny's art expresses itself...its political and social observations. He's got really powerful images, medium and message...I think he's really firing on all cylinders! More artists should be expressing themselves like this. His art is very accessible...it's got a good cartoon edge yet it's definitely serious."

The Republican Journal, June 20, 2002 "The fact that the back of the canvas is as important as the front carries with it an impression that there is a compulsion to explore all sides of a story, and Cole does it with great imagination." – Corinne Vaccaro

The Camden Herald, October 18, 2001 "The...exhibition is so pure in intent and execution that it restores ones faith in the idea of art as genuine, relevant and sustaining to the human spirit..." – David Grima

Casco Bay Weekly, April 2, 1998 "The somewhat lurid, somewhat hysterical, watercolor and inks by Kenny Cole are reminiscent of editorial cartoons; titles such as "The Last Time Tim Ever Drank & Drove" and "Belfast Bay Festival" evoke their rustic character." – Annie Seikonia

The Waldo Independent, February 13, 1997 "His quirky, narrative technique calls innocence to mind, while the imagery crackles with warnings...They are wacky but serious fun where the laughs sometimes hurt." – Alan Crichton

The Waldo Independent, August 31, 1995 "Cole's highly graphic, deceptively "untutored" and loopy, folk art or cartoon style...brings a raw humor to the world's aches..." – Alan Crichton

The New York Times, September 11, 1994 "Kenny Cole contributes 16 large...watercolors that comment on major issues like that of pollution and the vicissitudes of daily life" – Vivien Raynor

Staten Island Advance, July 24, 1994 "Kenny Cole...often depict(s) dire or humorous situations and they look rather like a collaboration by Roz Chast, Charles Addams and R. Crumb." – Michael Fressola

Staten Island Advance, April 8, 1990 "...Cole's work has an appealing rawness." – Michael Fressola

The New York Times, March 25, 1990 "The two Artists one must spend the most time with are Kenny Cole and Steven Harvey. Both are obsessive. Mr. Cole paints and draws on both sides of his supports... His works are more than this device, however; the imagery flows tantalizingly between realism and abstraction." – William Zimmer

The Sunday Star Ledger, September 23, 1984 "Bizarre creatures, mysterious glyphs and twisting forms interact in the graphite works by Ken Cole." – Eileen Watkins

 

INTERACTIVE ART

 

2009 "Comments, Questions?" - Juice 2.0 Conference / Camden, Maine

2009 "Lubec Arts Alive – U.M.V.A. Artist in Residence / Lubec, Maine

 

POLITICAL ACTION

 

2011 "#occupySPACE"- Space Gallery / Portland, Maine

2011 "Draw-In to End Militarism" – "Steve Mumford: Embedded" CMCA / Rockport, Maine

2011 "Draw-In to Bring Our War Dollars Home" – State Capitol / Augusta, Maine

2011 "Print-A-Thon to Bring Our War Dollars Home" – Art Dogs / Gardiner, Maine

2011 "Print-A-Thon to Bring Our War Dollars Home" – Portland Public Library / Portland, Maine

2010 "Draw-A-Thon to Bring Our War Dollars Home" – Space Gallery / Portland, Maine

2010 "Draw-In to Bring Our War Dollars Home" – State Capitol / Augusta, Maine

2010 "Draw-A-Thon to Bring Our War Dollars Home" – UCC Church / Bath, Maine

2003 "Moratorium Day, Draw-In" – Bowdoin College Museum of Art / Brunswick, Maine

 

ARTIST TALKS

 

2011 PechaKucha/Bangor, Maine

2010 Space Gallery/Portland, Maine

2009 Perimeter Gallery/Belfast, Maine

2009 Waterfall Arts/Belfast, Maine

2007 Center for Maine Contemporary Art/Rockport, Maine

2006 Perimeter Gallery/Belfast, Maine

 

AWARDS, GRANTS

 

2011 Maine Arts Commission "Good Idea" Grant

2009 ASDF $1 Grant

2005 Maine Arts Commission "Good Idea" Grant

2003 Maine Community Foundation, Photographing Artwork Project recipient

2002 Maine Community Foundation, Photographing Artwork Project recipient

2002 Vermont Studio Center, full fellowship

1990 Artists Space Grant

1983 Artists Space Grant

1979 Ford Foundation Studio Award

1978 Ford Foundation Studio Award

1976 Charles E. Burchfield Scholarship

 

NOTABLE

 

2011 Mental Shoes Magazine

2011 Hawk and Handsaw Magazine

2010 Studio Visit Magazine, Vol. #12

2010 Studio Visit Magazine, Vol. #9

2009 Studio Visit Magazine, Vol. #7

2008- present Flicker – 1365 images 86,134 views

2008 Fine Art Adoption Network: 2 artwork adoptions.

2006- present Union of Maine Visual Artists – Flat File administrator

2004 Pierogi Press #15 Mark Lombardi memorial issue

2004- present Pierogi 2000 – Flat File

2002- present Drawing Center Slide Registry

2002- present Maine Arts Commission Artists Directory

2001- present Artists' Space Online Directory

2000- 2004 Union of Maine Visual Artists – Webmaster

1999- 2009 Waterfall Arts - Board of Directors

2001 NYC Percent for Art - Short Listed

1988- 1993 Serpentine Art and Nature Commons – Program Director

 

EDUCATION

 

1981 Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY - BFA

 

TEACHING/MENTORING

 

2010 "Branching Out" Waterfall Arts – Belfast, Maine

2008 "Branching Out" Waterfall Arts – Belfast, Maine

2007 "Branching Out" Waterfall Arts – Belfast, Maine

2006 "Branching Out" Waterfall Arts – Belfast, Maine

2005 Inspiring Young Artists – Belfast, Maine

2004 Horizon Arts – Camden, Maine

2001/02 Waterfall Arts - Montville, Maine

1990 Studio in a School, NYC

1989 - 90 Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment, NYC