Articles and Reviews
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2023 "Let There Be War" essay by Karen Jelenfy

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2022 "Kenny Cole’s Savage Menagerie" The Free Press (Vol. 38 No. 41 P. 12) HiLo Art review by Alan Crichton

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2021 "Santa's Hands and Uncle Sams" The Free Press (Vol. 37 No. 47 P.1 & 6) review by Ethan Andrews

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2018 "Indigestion" Portland Press Herald review by Dan Kany

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2017 "Lines of Thought" Portland Press Herald review by Dan Kany

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2016 "The Promise of Tomorrow" Republican Journal review by Ethan Andrews

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2016 "Like There's No Tomorrow" and "The Promise of Tomorrow" Pen Bay Pilot review by Kay Stephens

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2015 "Flood" Seasick Magazine / Hurricane season issue review by Narciso Philistratus

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2014 Artvoices Magazine 7th Annual Winter Basel Issue interview by Ellen Caldwelll

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2014 "Parabellum" Portland Press Herald review by Dan Kany

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2014 "Parabellum" Art New England review by Carl Little

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2014 "Parabellum" Portland Press Herald review by Bob Keyes

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2014 "Parabellum" Artscope review by Suzanne Volmer

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2013 "Distress" interview by Lisa Agostini

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2012 "CMCA Biennial Exhibition" Artscope review by Suzanne Volmer

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2012 "As High As Heaven" catalogue essay by Freddy LaFage and Karen McDonald

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2011 "Gold, God, Guns and Girls" catalogue essay by Nicholas Schroeder

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2010 "The Hellfire Story" Portland Phoenix review by Nicholas Schroeder

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2010 "The Hellfire Story" catalog essay by Al Crichton

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1997 "Cole’s work is neither carefree nor innocent" The Waldo Independent hi-lo review by Alan Crichton

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1995 “The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions” The Waldo Independent hi-lo art review by Alan Crichton

Books and Catalogues
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2022 "Low Energy: Strata Works 1992-2022"

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2021 "Jacked" supplemental image catalog to exhibition

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2021 "Tumult" Image catalog of new work on Xuan paper

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2021 "The 5 Stages of Grief" Handmade chapbook from Staring Problem Press (Out of Print...but contact me if you would like a copy!)

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2020 "W.T.H.J.H.?" image catalogue with essay

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2013 "Distress" image catalog with interview

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2012 "As High As Heaven" image catalogue with essay

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2011 "Darfur at Our Doorstep" image catalog

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2011 "Gold, God, Guns and Girls" image catalogue with essay

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2010 "The Hellfire Story" image catalogue with essay

Selected Website Listings
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Fall 2021 Maine Arts Journal: UMVA Quarterly partnering with the statewide initiative Freedom & Captivity. I contributed an essay and images

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2019 Interview/blog post with "Gallery Closed" artists, Kenny Cole, Geoff Hargadon, Paula Lalala and Brian Reeves

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2016 "The Promise of Tomorrow" Republican Journal review by Ethan Andrews

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2015 "Flood" The Chart review by Jeffrey Ackerman

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2014 "Monhegan: The Unfailing Muse" review by Britta Konau

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2014 "Parabellum" Portland Press Herald review by Dan Kany

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2014 "Parabellum" Portland Press Herald review by Bob Keyes with video

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2009 Thoughts by "The Owl Who Laughs" Poet Chris Crittenden's blog

GGGG

Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted. That thought belongs to 19th century French writer Jules Renard - who didn’t make visual art - so it’s strange that while viewing Kenny Cole’s “Gold, God, Guns, and Girls,” it comes readily to mind. Cole is not a writer, and yet he uses words - strong ones - like a carpenter uses nails. Scriptures, prophecies, speeches, and sermons anchor these vibrant, colorful drawings. While the artist seems to take a perverse pleasure in borrowing them (from St. Francis of Assisi, the prophet Jeremiah, and the UN Security Council, among others), he also makes them a chore to read. The tiny, circuitous text collides into golden bullets, dancing showgirls, and piles of money - a slew of potential interruptions - yet Cole keeps on writing it. Why?
Even ten years ago, these works could not have happened. They are firmly modern drawings, as much concerned with American drone missiles, secret wars, and their scriptural justifications as the haze of distractions that constantly befogs our culture and renders those concepts unfathomable to us. Cole juxtaposes the cold, hard core of uncomfortable fact with a periphery of bright and shiny visual lures in a way that’s by now familiar to us all.
He’s been doing this for years, but it’s noteworthy that as he continues his artistic study of America’s unspeakable practices, his imagery is becoming more surreal. Never before has his work featured such lavish saturation, hallucinatory patterns, and diverse vocabulary. Which is to say, for an exhibition of work so unapologetically political, so dedicated to finding new ways of revealing dark secrets; there sure are a lot of pretty colors. It’s a fascinating device, really. These pieces are among the most visually arresting he’s ever made, but can we trust him? Don’t the efforts to make a picture more attractive only further obscure its truth?
Of course, these are trick questions. “Gold, God, Guns, and Girls” differs from Cole’s earlier work because its terrain is the mind. We already know the truth. Unlike The Hellfire Story, the fall 2010 exhibition in Portland’s SPACE Gallery which detailed the fifty-year history of the United States drone missile program, “Gold...” with its dreamlike backdrops and American symbology, suggests that warfare isn’t merely a horror story in a newspaper or RSS feed. It’s a constant narrative, and it’s running inside each of us.
There’s another way “Gold, God, Guns, and Girls” is unusual. Sure, the drawings are political, indeed almost polemical. They use patterns of religious iconography to warn of the dangers of using religious iconography. They contain such intricate design and methodical labor that it’s tempting to try to decode them for some hidden answer or instruction. Good luck with that. Despite all this, they still manage to have fun. Cole may have opinions, and he can certainly ramble a little (at least artistically), but he’s not a dogmatist. And whether you find his drawings provocative or distracting, hopefully they can bring out opinions of your own.

–Nicholas Schroeder / Portland, Maine / April 2011

2011 "Gold, God, Guns and Girls" catalogue essay by Nicholas Schroeder