ORLY COGAN

BIOGRAPHY

• Cogan was born in Jaffa, Israel in 1971

• She lives and works in New York City

• She was educated at The Cooper Union for

Advancement of Science & Art and The Maryland

Institute College of Art.

• Cogan has had solo exhibitions with galleries such

as Steven Wolf Fine Art in San Fransisco, Byron

Cohen Gallery in Kansas City and Carl Hammer

Gallery in Chicago.

“My work is an irreverent take on the conventions

of femininity: I stitch figures on dainty vintage

fabrics. These found linens, which at one time--in

a more modest age--served as table runners,

bureau scarves and tablecloths, had already

been embroidered by an earlier and more

circumscribed generation of women.”

Her Style of Work

Her work reflects on history,

tradition, mythology, fairy

tales, nature, humor, irony

and intimacy. She uses

vintage fabrics and adds „a

layer of attitude‟ which

informs us what was once

thought of as old fashioned

womanly craft with a

postmodern twist.

FIGURES

Cogan has figures who inspire her, often female

heroines, where she would present their anxieties,

insecurities, vanities and desires through visual

narratives.

The narratives tend to show both a tactile and

symbolic presence that would transform “women‟s

work” into something unexpected.

Most of her figures are from people she knows, such

as her fiancé, parents and friends, who would then

mingle with storybook characters.

QUESTIONS

Cogan would ask herself questions such as:

What role do women want to play in society?

What kinds of relationships do we want to

share? Who are our roles models?

These questions relate to my own study of the

roles of women developing and how

celebrities are idolised as being the „perfect

woman‟.

Animal farm

This piece makes me

think of the stereotype of

women being in the

kitchen baking

Voicemail

Women‟s work

In „Women‟s Work‟, the woman is

vacuuming naked, suggesting what

is idolised of a woman in a

stereotypical way: liked for their body

and being a housewife.

Mistreated?

Delilah

This piece makes me think of how

women change their looks to be the

ideal woman, like the glamorous

celebrities.