Artist Statement

My work is an irreverent yet gentle take on the conventions of femininity. I stitch figures on dainty vintage fabrics. These found linens, which at one time served as table runners, bureau scarves and tablecloths in a more modest age, were already embroidered by an earlier and more circumscribed generation of women. My art deals with history, tradition, mythology, fairy tale, nature, humor, irony, relationships and intimacy. I create a dialogue using the vintage fabrics as two-way mirrors into the like-minded fantasies of competing generations. I add to these a layer of attitude (such as hand sewed pubic hair) that updates what was once considered an old-fashioned womanly craft with a kind of happy-go-lucky postmodern perversity. The fabric becomes the foundation for a fantastical, exotic dialogue between the old and the new.

My figures, often female heroines allude to their anxieties, insecurities, vanities & desires through visual narratives. These narratives have both a tactile and symbolic presence, transforming "women's work" into something beautiful, evocative and unexpected. For example, In a piece titled Allegory, a mix of embroidery and paint on a pale vintage tablecloth, a group of women are gathered like saints and angles in an ochre-flowered celestial-like realm where the night sky is dotted with deeply pink areolas and thick embroidered hair. The women simultaneously embrace, and ignore each other to their own liking. The age and scale of each woman varies, creating a seemingly randomized hierarchy that hints at a state of constant flux between each woman’s assertive and passive roles. In another piece, Fairy Tale, Alice in Wonderland in her Mary Janes hang out innocently with handsome nude men. Most of the figures are characters from my life. My fiancé, family members & friends mingle with storybook characters creating a kind of public intimacy. I cheerfully mix things up, collapsing time & history as I combine the past with the present. By co-opting the labors of some earnest homemaker from an earlier era, I honor her handiwork as I incorporate it into the blithe frolics of the 21st century.

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 the Madonna/Whore, 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. 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 to share? 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.

(Some selected passages written by Margaret Hawkins &
Michael Kisner)

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
2008"Sugar & Spice" Anne Kittrell Gallery , University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
2007"Sew Good" Byron Cohen Gallery Kansas City, MI
“ . . . and don´t forget to rescue the princess!” Projects Gallery, Philladelphia, PA
“The Wonder of You“ Steven Wolf Fine Arts, San Fransisco, CA
2006 “Tangled Up In You” Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Loose Threads” One by One, Jersey City Art Museum, installation, NJ
2003 “Bachelor Girl,” Julia Friedman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2002 Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy

Featured Exhibitions
2009 “When Women Rule the World: Judy Chicago in Thread.” The Textile Art Museum of Canada, held in parallel with a survey exhibition.
2008 "Undomestic" Peppers Gallery, University of Redlands,California "Pricked: Extreme Embroidery" Museum of Arts and Design, New York NY.
2007 Elizebeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art” Brooklyn Museum of Art digital feminist art archive project
“I Want Candy” Hudson River Museum of Art curated by Bartholomew F. Bland New York
2006 “Strangers to Ourselves” curated by Julia Tratta Kimmel Center Gallery NY, NY
“Softly Threatening” Bumbershoot, Seattle, WA
2003 “Pandora’s Wink,” Paul Rodgers Gallery, New York, NY
2000 LFL Gallery, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions
2009"Raised in Craftivity" Wignall Museum:Rancho Cucamonga,CA curated by Maria Buszek
2008"The Heart is a Lonely Traveler" 31 Grand, NYC
2007 "Raised in Craftivity"Greenlease Gallery Rockhurst University
curated by Maria Buszek, Kansas City ,MI
"Girl on Guy: the object of my desire" A+D Gallery at Columbia Collegecurated by Marci Rae McDade, Chicago, IL
"Home Grown" David Krut Projects curated by Rene Ricardo New York .NY.
"Fresh Art" Karin Sanders Fine Arts Sag Harbor NY.
”Woman’s Work : Homage to Feminist Art” Table Rosa Gallery curated by Cindy Nemser New York
2006 “ “Material Girls” Riverside Art Museum, California
“Stuff It” Shore Institute of Contemporary Art, NJ
“Between Us” Newark Art Concil, NJ
“Material Abuse” Caren Golden Gallery, New York, NY
“Selections and Celebrations”- Irvine Contemporary, Washington DC
“Animalia” Irvine Contemporary , Washington, DC
“ Flight Plan”-Morgan Lehman Gallery New York, NY
“Uneasy Marriage” - Motel Gallery Portland, OR
“On Tenterhooks” - Christopher Henry Gallery, New York, NY
“Softly Threatening” Bumber Shoot Seattle Arts Festival, curated by Yoko Ott
“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
“ 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
“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 Barrington, 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 Art, 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, Oakland, CA
1993 “Voices from the East,” Intermedia Gallery, Eastern Michigan University, MI
The Cooper Union Spring Exhibit, New York, NY
1991 Maryland Art Place Gallery, Baltimore, MD
1989 Columbia University Teacher’s College Gallery, New York, NY

Installations / Art Fairs
2007 Drawing Center ,art registery
2006 Aqua Miami, Irvine Contemporary , Washington DC
Aqua Miami, Motel Gallery, Portland OR
Art LA, Byron Cohen Gallery
2005 Pulse Miami, Byron Cohen Gallery
Scope Miami, Carl Hammer Gallery
Scope New York, Carl Hammer Gallery, New York, NY
2004 Lifeboat, installation, Miami Basel, Miami Beach, FL
LA Art Fair, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
NADA Art Fair, Volume Gallery, Miami, FL
Pierogi Flat Files, Brooklyn, NY
Peekskill Project , Hudson Vally Contemporary Arts 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 & 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 Surface Design magazine “Threads of Memory”, Nov
The Stranger “Softly Threatening” (visual arts), Seattle WA Aug 24
New York Times,” Stuffed & Packing a Punch” by Benjamin Genocchio, Nov 17
Chicago Sun Times ”Cogan images expand view of Fabric of Life” by Margaret Hawkins, June 23
The Reader ”Dirty Linens” by Fred Camper, June 23
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 Hron
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,09/22/05 Loose Threads
Interior Design , issue 10 September
Animal, October, New York
Art in America, December (Hanging by a Thread show)by Paula Hron
Review ,May & October issues (for Kansas City)
2004 Sarah Douglas, Reviews, ARTnews, October
Eileen Kennedy, “ Provincetown Passions,” Arts Media, Summer
“Orly Cogan: Bachelor Girl,” by Ruth Lopez, Fiber Arts Magazine, Summer issue
“Today’s Visionary Artists Interpret Time,” Review, W Magazine, February Lauren David Peden, Review of “Gifting” exhibition, Time Out New York, Nov2
2003 Margaret Hawkins, Review of “Bachelor Girl,” Chicago Sun-Times, January 2
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 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
1994-96 Maryland Institute College of Art Catalogue
1993 Radio Station WBAI, Live Interview