child's play

For those of you lucky enough to be in Chicago this weekend the very talented and fellow new mama, Orly Cogan, has a new solo show at Carl Hammer Gallery. It looks awesome and I am jealous of those of you that can make it to the show. Orly will be at the opening- she will be the one with the adorable baby so say hi.

Child’s Play

Exhibition Dates: May 14 – July 2, 2010

Artist’s Reception: Friday, May 14, 5:30 – 8:00 P.M.

From the press release:

Carl Hammer Gallery welcomes Orly Cogan back for her second solo appearance here in Chicago. Cogan, who has always been interested in working with and combining multiple mediums, is best known for her unique crafting of hand stitched embroidered figures on top of previously embroidered vintage fabrics. Originally made by women of previous eras, these pieces serve as the foundation for the fantastic and exotic dialogue evolving from her combining the old and the new. Indirectly, she becomes collaborator with the earlier artists by modernizing these traditional works and altering their original purpose.

Cogan’s work deals with history, tradition, mythology, nature, humor, sexuality, relationships and intimacy. The entwinement of contemporary motifs onto these vintage fabrics inspires contrasts and dialogues between the time and consciousness of yesterday’s traditions alongside today’s sensibility. ..

Inherent to her own personality, these works play with the artist’s attraction to the spaces between dichotomies. She explores the extremes of soft and tough, dirty and clean, fantasy and reality, especially as they relate to gender.