Tracey Morgan Gallery: What Came First, March 8 - April 20, 2024
Tracey Morgan Gallery is pleased to present What Came First, the inaugural exhibition in our new gallery space at 22 London Rd, opening March 8th, 2024. Including work in a variety of media from our roster of represented artists.
Old Stone House: Mama Needs A Raise!, March 24 - May 12, 2024
Exhibiting artists consider such questions as: What do artists/caregivers most need and want? What would comprise a “Utopian” society that better recognizes and supports both caregiving and art-making? The exhibition will take place at 336 3rd Street Brooklyn, 11215. Learn more.
BravinLee Programs: The Golden Thread, April 25 - May 12, 2024
South Street Seaport Exhibition Space
Tracey Morgan Gallery: Holding On & Letting Go, Opening September 15, 2023.
Tracey Morgan Gallery is pleased to present Holding On & Letting Go, and exhibition of textile-based work by New York artist Orly Cogan. This is Cogan’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. An opening reception with the artist will be held Friday, September 15 from 6-8PM.
Using vintage fabrics such as table clothes, bed linens and dish towels as her base material, Cogan adds hand interventions of embroidery, crochet, appliqué and paint, layering contemporary imagery onto repurposed textiles, engaging with the ideas of feminism, beauty, art history, fairy tales, fantasy and desire. Through semi-erotic depiction of the human figure Cogan creates contrasting visual dialogues with traditional foundations associated with femininity and domesticity.
Cogan sees her work as in collaboration with the original makers of the fabrics she uses, which were most likely handmade by women of past generations. The act is both subversive and playful – honoring the craft of other artisans while co-opting their wares to explore sexuality and presumptions about gender roles.
While the recent works selected for this exhibition continue Cogan’s interest into the many facets of feminism and eroticism, they more broadly explore themes of attachment/detachment in interpersonal relationships, family, and work. They look at the paradox of parenting (Cogan is mother to a teenager), in which parents must simultaneously be protectors and providers, while allowing their children to find their own identities on their own terms. Cogan notes this challenge is surprisingly like the process of art making, which necessitates the artist letting go of preconceived notions of the final piece to create.
Included with the two-dimensional framed, stretched, and free hanging works is an installation in the center of the gallery, Confections (2006-ongoing). Comprised of entirely fabricated crocheted and knitted cakes and other desserts, this piece looks at indulgence and temptation, again using a traditionally “feminine” trope to unpack the many aspects of human longing.
Group Show Opening on October 12th, 2023
29 East 22nd Street, New York, NY 10010
I am pleased to present two significant works in this group exhibition.
When first walking into Orly Cogan’s studio, I am immediately struck by the size and complexity of the work. All stitched by her own hand, the larger pieces are breathtaking as we are used to seeing handwork in a much smaller scale. These pieces are ambitious, delicate, soft in tone yet intimate and convey a story with bold imagery and complex multi layering scenarios.
Cogan’s enthusiastic faith in sensual indulgence is clear. Initially at a glance the viewer is transported into a fantastical dream-like world of frolicking Renaissance figures confidently drawn and co-mingling with fairytale heroines, and animals. The work incorporates art history references and imagery with biblical and Pagan undertones that helps inform the narratives. Upon closer examination the viewer finds layers of texture and varied line work, appliqué and painting all on delicate fabrics that serve as a foundation for a kind of two way mirror into like minded dreams of past and present. Cogan poetically creates her work with a contemporary edge, bringing wit, humor and a bit of subversion which makes us feel like we may be closer to catching a glimpse of a kind of public intimacy where for a moment we feel like we could be in on a secret.
Read the full article HERE.
Check out a feature of my work in New American Paintings, Newsstand Dates: February 2020 / March 2020, Juried Exhibitions - In - Print, Juror Jerry Saltz