ABOUT I IMAGES

Orly cogan

bio

Orly Cogan combines photography, vintage textiles, fabric collage, and hand embroidery to create richly layered works that blur the boundaries between image and object. Working with her own photographs alongside historic and found imagery, she prints onto fabric and transforms each composition through appliqué and hand stitching. Her dreamlike narratives explore feminism, memory, mythology, and contemporary culture with humor, irony, and poetic sensitivity.

By bringing photography and embroidery into direct dialogue, Cogan reimagines two mediums historically positioned outside the fine art canon, creating a tactile visual language that challenges traditional distinctions between art and craft.

Educated at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and The Maryland Institute College of Art, Cogan has a BFA majoring in painting. Cogan has been at the forefront of the contemporary fiber art movement with an emphasis on feminism.

She has been included in numerous national and international museum exhibitions, including The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, CT,The Museum of Arts & Design, NY, The Jewish Museum, NY; Riverside Museum, CA; The Hudson River Museum, NY, The Textile Museum of Toronto, Canada (with Judy Chicago),The Brattleboro Museum, VT, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, CA; Woodson Art Museum, WI; Fresno Metropolitan Museum, CA; Musée International des Arts Modestes, Sète, France, Museum Rijswijk, The Netherlands, and the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, among others. Her work is held in public and private collections, and she has curated several acclaimed group exhibitions in New York City.

Cogan’s work has been published in several books and museum catalogues. Her reviews are included in: The New York Times, New American Paintings, the Chicago Sun Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Reader, NY Press, Art Press Magazine, W Magazine, Elle, Fiber Arts, Textile Plus, Surface Design, Art In America, Tema Celeste, Interior Design, Art Press, Art News, Chronogram,Upstate House, Time Out Chicago, Time Out New York, The American Art Collector, and Art Forum, to name a few.

Jaffa, Israel, 1971

Birthplace

2023
Holding On and Letting Go, Tracy Morgan Gallery, Ashville, NC
Threads of Entanglement, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA

2019
Children of Eden, Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire, NH

2018
Don’t Call me Princess, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattlebro, VT
Summer Lovin’, Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill, NY

2010
Love Street, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Childs Play, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL

2008
Sugar & Spice, Anne Kittrell Gallery, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR

2007
Sew Good, Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, MI
The Wonder of You, Steven Wolf Fine Arts, Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
..and Don't Forget to rescue the Princess! Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2006
Tangled Up In You, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL
Loose Threads, One by One, Jersey City Art Museum, NJ
Loose Threads, site specific mixed media installation, Black and White Gallery, New York, NY
Quantum Entanglement, site specific installation, Jersey City Museum, NJ

2003
Bachelor Girl, Julia Friedman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Pandora’s Wink, Paul Rogers Gallery, New York, NY

2002
Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy

2000
LFL, Zack Feuer Gallery, New York, NY

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS



SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS



















2026
Every Woman Biannual: Spectalia, Pen & Brush, New York, NY
Identity, Culture, and Community: Stories from the Collection of the Jewish Museum, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY

2025
The Invisible String, Gagné Contemporary, Toronto, Canada

2024
We Got The Power (Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse), CAMP Gallery, Miami, FL
The Golden Thread, BravinLee Programs, New York, NY
Mama Needs A Raise! Old Stone House, Brooklyn, NY
What Came First Tracey Morgan Gallery, Ashville, NC

2023
NOW: As a Consequence of Fact, Pen & Brush, New York, NY
More Than A Woman?, Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE
Homespun, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, NY

2022
Then as Now: Woodland Pattern 1980-2022, Woodland Pattern's 40th Anniversary Exhibition Milwaukee, WI

2021
Go Your Own Way, Union Gallery, Wagner College, NY

2020
By A Thread, Tracey Morgan Gallery, Asheville, NC

2019
Movie Night, curated by Richard Davidman at Ille Arts Gallery, Amaganset, NY
Art & Activism: An Exhibition About Change, Schaefer International Gallery, Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Maui, HI
Roles of Engagement, Morean Arts Center, St.Petersburg, FL
Woven Stories, Museum of Art and Art History, Lancaster, CA

2018
In Her Hands, curated by Orly Cogan and Julie Peppito, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY
Up Close and Personal, The Edward J. and Helen Jane Morrison Gallery at The University of Minnesota, Morris, MN
After Birth, The Catherine G Murphy Gallery at the St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN

2017
Between I and Thou, site specific installation, Hudson Valley Center For Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY
Threads, Woman & Power, The Omega Center, Rhinebeck, NY
Silent Sentinels, Ann Street Gallery, Newburg, NY
Cut Cloth: Contemporary Textiles and Feminism, The Portico, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

2015
Gathering Threads, Contemporary Fiber Art, Brattleboro Museum, Brattleboro, VT
Sexy-ish, Birch Contemporary, Canada

2014
Nålens øye, Samtidsbroderi (“The Needle’s Eye,” Contemporary Embroidery), Kode, National Art Museums of Bergen, Norway
The Embroidered Image, Robert Mann Gallery, New York
Stitch, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA

2013
Threads: Contemporary Embroidery, Dowd Gallery, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY

2011
Rijswijk Textile Biennial, 2011, Museum Rijswijk, The Hague, Netherlands

2009
Pretty Tough, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, CT
Playing Around, Brattleboro Museum of Art Center, VT
Seeds of the Wild, Puffin Room (a project of the Puffin Foundation), NYC
The Figure, Hillard Gallery, KC
Raised in Craftivity, Wignall Museum, Rancho Cucamonga, CA curated by Maria Buszek
Narrative Thread, co curated at Lyons Wier Ortt Gallery, NYC
Playing Around, Brattleboro Museum of Art Center, VT

2008
The Heart is a Lonely Traveler, 31 Grand, NYC
Devotion to Thread, Paper Boat Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
KC in LA Milo Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2007
Pricked: Extreme Embroidery, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
I Want Candy, Hudson River Museum of Art, New York, NY
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 College, curated 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, NY
Raised in Craftivity, Greenlease Gallery Rockhurst University curated by Maria Buszek, Kansas City, MI

2006
Material Girls, Riverside Art Museum, CA
Stuff It, Shore Institute of Contemporary Art, NJ
Between Us, Newark Art Council, 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, WA
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, NYC
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
Technicolor Dreamcow, The Cow Parade, New York, NY
DNA Gallery, Provincetown, MA

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

1996
Voices from the East, Intermedia Gallery, Eastern Michigan University, MI
The Cooper Union Spring Exhibit, New York, NY

1996
Columbia University Teacher’s College Gallery, New York, NY

collections


The Jewish Museum, New York, NY
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
National Art Museums of Bergen, Norway
Collection of MIT