Orly Cogan

Orly Cogan is an Israeli-American fiber artist 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 in 1971. 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." Her work is "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."

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 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, California 2007 - "Pricked: Extreme Embroidery" Museum of Arts and Design, New York NY. "I Want Candy" Hudson River Museum, New York Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art 2006 - Brooklyn Museum digital feminist art archive project "Strangers to Ourselves" curated by Julia Tratta Kimmel Center Gallery NY, NY