I work with vintage, printed fabrics and found embroideries made by women of previous eras. I act as a collaborator, modernizing their traditional work and altering its original purpose. The fabric becomes the foundation for a fantastical, exotic dialogue between the old and the new. My art deals with history, tradition, mythology, nature, relationships and intimacy. The entwinement of contemporary motifs onto these vintage fabrics inspires contrasts and dialogues between the time and consciousness of the original creator and topics that concern us today.

I am drawn to dichotomies, such as soft and tough, dirty and clean, fantasy and reality, especially as they relate to gender. My work explores common feminine archetypes and stereotypes such as Madonna/Whore, Pin-Up Girl, Lolita, and the Femme Fatale. 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.

In the process I strive to inspire certain questions: What role do women want to play in society? Who do we want to be? What kind of relationships do we want? Who are our role models? In my work I hope to ask all of this within the context of constantly shifting boundaries that define our relationships and our identities.

Orly Cogan

 Education

1990-94             BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art

1992-93             The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

1992                                  Scuola di Leonardo da Vinci, Florence, Italy

Solo Exhibitions

2006                 “Tangled Up In You”, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL

2006                                  “One by One”, Jersey City Art Museum, installation, NJ

2003                 “Bachelor Girl,” Julia Friedman Gallery, Chicago, IL

2002                                  Marcella Arte Contemporanea, Milan, ITALY

“Return to the Handmade,” Makor, New York, NY

Featured Exhibitions

2003                                  “Pandora’s Wink,” Paul Rodgers 9W Gallery, New York, NY

2000                                  LFL Gallery, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions

2006                                  “Not your Grandma’s Doily”, Contemporary Museum & Gallery, Portland, OR

“Threads of Memory”, Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY

“All About Women”, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL

“Hanging by a Thread”, The Moore Space, Miami, FL

“Material Abuse” Caren Golden Gallery, New York, NY

“Flight Plan” Morgan Lehmon Gallery, New York, NY

“Uneasy Marrige”  Motel Gallery, Portland, Oregon

“On Tenterhooks” Christopher Henry Gallery, New York, NY

“The ‘O’ Show”, The Institute of the Contemporary Arts (SICA), Long Branch, NJ

2005                 “Human Footprint,” Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL

                        “Extra/ordinary,” The Cube at Beco, Kansas City, MO

                        “Several Artists Consider Books,” Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

                        “Hanging by a Thread,” the Moore Space, Miami, FL

                        “The Love Show,” Morgan Lehman Gallery, Lakeville, CT

                        “Shelter from a Storm,” Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, MA

                        “Sideshow,” Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL

2004                                  “Paisagens,” Leo Bahia Contemporary Art, Santa Lucia, BRAZIL

“NYC,” DFN Gallery, New York, NY

White Box Annual Benefit, Diane von Furstenburg Studio, New York, NY

Summer Show, DNA Gallery, Provincetown, MA

“Innocence Found,” DFN Gallery, New York, NY

“Sexy Beasts,” Ethan Cohen Fine Art, New York, NY

2003                 “A Notion of Time,” Ingrao Gallery, New York, NY

                        “Gifting,” Rare Gallery, New York, NY

                        “Fear of Flying,” Sara Nightingale Gallery, Water Mill, NY

                        “Online,” Feigen Contemporary, New York, NY

                        “Slightly Sinister,” Perimeter Gallery, New York, NY

                        “Unframed First Look,” curated by Ross Bleckner, Peter Halley, and Sue  Williams, Lehman Maupin Gallery, New York, NY

                        “The Summer of Lust,” Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barington, MA

                        “One Hundred Artists One Hundred T-shirts,” Daniel Silverstein Gallery,  New York, NY

                        “Man and Beast Kingdom,” DNA Gallery, Provincetown, MA

                        “Redo China,” Ethan Cohen Gallery, New York, NY

                        “The ‘Burbs,” DFN Gallery, New York, NY

2002                 “The New Figurists,” Red Dot Gallery, New York, NY

Works on Paper, DFN Gallery, New York, NY

“Sugar and Spice,” Lyons Weir Gallery, Chicago, IL

2001                                  “Some Are Paintings,” John Gibson Gallery, New York, NY

“Winter Paper,” Catherine Moore Fine Arts, New York, NY

2000                 The Cow Parade, “Technicolor Dreamcow,” New York, NY DNA Gallery,   Provincetown, MA

“Yesterday Was Dramatic…But Today is OK!” Spazio Condolo, Milan, Italy

1999                 “Size Matters,” Gale Gates Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

1998                 “Small Works,” Holland Tunnel Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

                        “Illuminations,” Fulton Street Gallery, Troy, NY

                        “On/of Paper,” Chowan College, Green Hall Gallery, Murfreesboro, NC

                        “Woman: In the Broader Sense,” St.Louis, MO

                        “Honoring the Feminine,” Center for Visual Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA

1997                 “From Coast to Coast,” Center for the Visual Arts Gallery, Oa        kland, CA

1993                 “Voices from the East,” intermedia Gallery, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI

                        The Cooper Union Spring Exhibit, New York

1991                                  Maryland Art Place Gallery, Baltimore, MD

1989                                  Columbia University Teacher’s College Gallery, New York, NY

Installations / Art Fairs

2006                 Art LA, Byron Cohen Gallery

2005                 Pulse Miami, Byron Cohen Gallery

Scope Miami, Carl Hammer Gallery, Miami, FL

Scope New York, Carl Hammer Gallery, New York, NY

2004                                  Lifeboat, installation, Miami Basel, Miami Beach

LA Art Fair, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

NADA Art Fair, Volume Gallery, Miami, FL

Pierogi Flat Files, Brooklyn, NY

Peekskill Project, curated by Koan Jeff Baysa, Peekskill, NY

2003                 Scope Miami, Ethan Cohen Gallery, Miami, FL

Scope New York, Marella Gallery, Milan, ITALY

Scope Los Angeles, Ethan Cohen Gallery, New York, NY

2002                                  Scope Miami, Marella Gallery, Milan, ITALY

Grants and Awards

2006                 Alumni Association, The Cooper Union, New York, NY

2005                 Real Art Today, artist talk, Makor (92^nd street Y)

2002                 Art in General Studio Tour with Knight Landesman

1992                 Painting and Works on Paper Grant, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation

American Artist Society Merit Scholarship (MICA)

Selected Bibliography

2006                 ARTnews, February, “Top 10 Trends in Contemporary Art” by Elisabeth Kley

Elle Magazine, March

2005                 Art in America, December, “Hanging by a Thread” show by Paula Harper

ARTnews review by Margey Gordon December issue, “Hanging by a Thread”

Miami New Times, September, “Loose Threads” by Alfredo Triff

Sundari Foundation catolue, Margulies Family Foundation

Miami Times, 9/22/05  Loose Threads

Interior Design, issue 10 September

Animal, October, New York

Art in America, December (Hanging by a Thread show) by Paula Harper

Review, May & October issues (for Kansas City)

2004                 Sarah Douglas, Reviews, ARTnews, October

                        Eileen Kennedy, “Provincetown Passions,” Arts Media, Summer issue

                        “Orly Cogan: Bachelor Girl,” by Ruth Lopez, Fiber Arts Magazine, Summer issue

                        Margaret Hawkins, Review of “Bachelor Girl,” Chicago Sun-Times, January 2

                        “Today’s Visionary Artists Interpret Time,” Review, W Magazine, February

Lauren David Peden, Review of “Gifting” exhibition, Time Out New York, Nov 2

2003                 Carrie Sandler, “Short & Sweet,” interview with Orly Cogan, UR

                                    Chicago, January

“Girls, girls, girls,” Review, New City Chicago Weekly, December 11

                        Reviews, Chicago Reader, December 12, 2003

                        Bald Ego, Second Edition, New York, NY, Artwork Featured, p.87-100

                        “NEWS: New York,” Contemporary Magazine, No. 53/54 2003, p.16

                        “The Scope L.A. Festival Trains its Gaze on the Cutting Edge,” by Susan

                                    Carpenter, The Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2003, p. E13

                        “Self Portrait: Orly Cogan.” Tema Celeste 97, May-June 2003 p.68-69

                        Review of “Fear of Flying,” The New York Times, Long Island Edition,

                                    December

2001                                  Johnson, Ken. “Art in Review: Some (Are) Painting.” The New York Times,

June 29, 2001, p. E35

1996-97             Icarus, New York University Literary Journal, Cover Art

1994-95             Maryland Institute College of Art Catalogue

1993                 Radio Station WBAI, Live Interview