Orly Cogan is an Israeli-American
fiber art
Fiber art (fibre art in British spelling) refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as ...
ist who works with and combines multiple mediums.
She is best known for crafting hand stitched embroidered figures on top of previously embroidered vintage fabrics.
Early life and education
Orly Cogan was born in
Jaffa, Israel
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the bi ...
in 1971.
Cogan attended a
Rudolf Steiner Waldorf School in her youth, attributing this education to her discovery of textiles as a medium.
She stated, "The sense of freedom I felt to explore without fear of getting things wrong meant that I could become comfortable expressing myself visually."
Cogan lives and works in
Hudson Valley, New York.
She was educated at
The Cooper Union for Advancement of Science & Art an
The Maryland Institute College of Art
Career
Style
Cogan begins with vintage fabrics which served as table runners, bureau scarves and tablecloths, and had already been embroidered by an earlier and more circumscribed generation of women. Cogan then transforms the
"women's work" pieces with modern images, statements about gender identity, and role models for today's woman.
Themes
Cogan typically mixes themes of old and new, to find modern feminist inspiration though "old fashioned" pieces of women's handiwork. Her work is "drawn to dichotomies, such as soft and tough, dirty and clean, fantasy and reality, especially as they relate to gender.
y workexplores common feminine archetypes and stereotypes such as
Madonna/Whore,
Pin-Up Girl
A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...
,
Lolita
''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
, and the
Femme Fatale
A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...
. Searching for that odd thing, the Feminist Beauty Queen, I mix subversion with flirtation, humor with power, and intimacy with frivolity, and in doing so I often straddle an ironic edge."
Discussing her 2018-2019 exhibit "Don't Call Me Princess" at
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center in
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about no ...
Cogan stated, "Ultimately, my quest is to tell a story about the role of women in our ever-changing society, all the while honoring the labors of the past. In the process, I aim to provoke certain questions within the context of constantly shifting boundaries that define our relationships and our identities: What role do women want to play in society today? Who do we want to be? What kind of relationships do we want to have? Who are our role models? What are we teaching our children? American women have grown up with fairy tales in our heads, and somehow that “happily ever after” idea is instilled early on. With my own daughter I saw how strongly princesses infiltrated her play, although she had no direct exposure to
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
movies or theme parks. I edited the few fairy tales we had, changing the sexist stories to empowering ones for my child's ears."
Reception
Orly Cogan's work has been called post-modern feminist,
sensual,
wholesome, and erotically charged.
Work
Major exhibitions
Solo
* 2018 - "Don’t Call Me Princess"
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Brattleboro, VT
* 2010 - "Child's Play"
Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL
* 2010 - "Love Street" Charlie James
Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Featured
* 2012 - "Cross Currents"
Memphis College of Art
Memphis College of Art (MCA) was a private art college in Memphis, Tennessee. It was in Overton Park, adjacent to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. It offered Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts in Art Education and Ma ...
, curated by Jennifer Sargent
* 2010 - "Narrative Thread," during "Fiber Philadelphia"
Wexler Gallery Wexler may refer to:
* Wexler (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Mount Wexler, United States
* Wexler (crater)
Wexler is a lunar impact crater that lies across the south-southeast limb of the Moon. In this location not much ...
, PA
* 2009 - "I Want Candy"
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum
The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum is located in Wausau, Wisconsin. It is best known for its annual "Birds in Art" exhibition, which exhibits contemporary artistic representations of birds. The annual exhibition has been held beginning the week af ...
, Wausau Wisconsin
** "I Want Candy" traveling exhibition.
Fresno Metropolitan Museum
The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science was a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate and American Alliance of Museums accredited museum located in downtown Fresno, California, in the San Joaquin Valley. The Museum was established in 1984 a ...
, Fresno, California
** "Pretty Tough: Contemporary Story telling"
Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, CT
** "It's Not Us, It's You"
San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, CA
** "imMaterial"
Black and White Gallery site specific installation NYC.
** "She Will Always Be Younger Than Us"
Textile Museum of Canada
The Textile Museum of Canada, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a museum dedicated to the collection, exhibition, and documentation of textiles.
History
The Textile Museum of Canada was founded as the Canadian Museum of Carpets and Textiles ...
, with work from Wednesday Lupypciw,
Cat Mazza Cat Mazza is an American textile artist. Her practice combines tactical media, activism, craft-based art making and animation in a form that has frequently been described as craftivism. She is the founder of the craftivist collective microRevolt. M ...
, Gillian Strong and
Ginger Brooks Takahashi
Ginger Brooks Takahashi (born July 26, 1977) is an American artist based in Brooklyn, New York, and North Braddock, Pennsylvania. A self-identified “punk,” Takahashi grew up in Oregon. She co-founded the feminist genderqueer collective and jou ...
in connection to the "When Women Rule The World: Judy Chicago in Thread" exhibit also at the Textile Museum of Canada.
* 2008 - "She Will Always be Younger Than Us" "Undomestic" Peppers Gallery,
University of Redlands
The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...
,California
* 2007 - "Pricked: Extreme Embroidery"
Museum of Arts and Design
The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...
, New York NY.
** "I Want Candy"
Hudson River Museum of Art
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson R ...
curated by Bartholomew F. Bland New York
**
Elizebeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art"
* 2006 -
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
digital feminist art archive project
** "Strangers to Ourselves" curated by
Julia Tratta Kimmel Center Gallery NY, NY
References
External links
Orly Cogan's webpageCollection of Orly Cogan's works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cogan, Orly
1971 births
Living people
American women artists
21st-century American women