We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jillian Kogan . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jillian below.
Jillian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As an artist and artistic director, I feel truly fortunate to have worked on a number of meaningful and impactful civic installations and exhibitions.
One of my favorite experiences was designing and creating the 2008 – 2009 California Imagination Project. It was a statewide promotional campaign commissioned by the California Arts Council (CAC) to reaffirm the agency’s commitment to arts in education and raise public awareness of the importance of arts and arts education in California.
My initial concept was to cull small pieces of artistic objects, artifacts, and memorabilia from highly creative Californians and institutions, and curate a selection into an enormous California Flag assemblage. CAC’s Mary Beth Barber tirelessly reached out to hundreds of local arts agencies and organizations to collect over 250 items. The outreach created a unique partnership between the CAC and hundreds of artists and arts organizations throughout the state.
I produced the temporary art installation in an offsite studio space owned by Armory Center for the Arts. Culling from so many cultural organizations was the most productive way to creatively unite the statewide artistic diversity that makes California so rich and unique. It was a great honor to be entrusted with the installation and to represent the creative legacy of the state in this form.
My process was chronicled by State of California photographer Duncan McIntosh, and his series of images were then edited into a 15-second stop-action PSA, which premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival. In addition, CAC produced California Imagination posters, magnets, and t-shirts depicting the artwork which were distributed to key stakeholders, politicians, and organizations throughout the state.
In honor of Flag Day, a real flag version of the artwork was flown over the State Capital Building in Sacramento. And Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger flew the California Imagination flag at several public meetings, bill signings, and press events.
Jillian, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I am a flag assemblage artist best known for challenging the iconography of flags by assembling a mixture of found objects with socio-political messaging. In short, I turn society’s leftovers, as well as once cherished mementos into flag art. The California Bear Flag is my muse and I love to recreate the banner into my own vision. I often work with recycled fabrics, empty gelatin color capsules, and a wide variety of castoff souvenirs. And while I am steeped into the California lifestyle and art scene, I was actually born and raised in the Old Line state of Maryland where I studied contemporary art at the Baltimore Museum of Art. I eventually earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University and did my graduate studies at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. Manifest destiny lured me to the West Coast, where I have remained for most of my adult life.
Like many people, I came to LA to work in the entertainment industry. I trained to be an agent at CAA, worked as a development executive on the Sony Lot, produced numerous music videos and commercials, and eventually established and ran a marketing events division of MTV Networks. I attribute my desire to create art to the many talented contemporary musical artists, that I was fortunate to work alongside. I owe my fascination with flags as objects of art to Jasper Johns, one of my favorite artists.
I bought an old California flag at a local flea market and got creative with it. I learned techniques through trial and error which led to blowing up glue guns. However, in time, I managed to correctly work the tools of my trade, put safety first, and came up new creative ideas for a series of flag artwork.
A stroke of luck brought an LA Times reporter to the doorstep of my apartment building in West Hollywood (The Four Gables). His inclusion of my artwork in the article was something of the Cinderella story which kicked off my flag artist career.
I still believe there is a flag created for every great moment in history and each of my collectors makes a mark with their unique banner.
My work has been displayed at Armory Center for the Arts Pasadena | Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles | Saatchi Art – Los Angeles | Los Angeles Art Association Gallery 825 | Bonhams | Pacific Design Center | MTV Santa Monica | Creative Artists Agency | Project One Gallery | We Rise | Into Action | Universal Studios | MOCA and more.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Years ago, a young couple bought a California flag assemblage called California Recycled which was featured in my solo show ‘Golden State of Mind’. It was a piece that I really enjoyed making because literally every part of it was crafted from recycled objects.
A few weeks later, I received a package from the couple that included a crayon rendering of the assemblage made by their seven-year-old daughter with a note that read, “It’s making an impression.”
That is rewarding!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn feeling judged by my artwork, especially because I manipulate iconic flags.
An LA Times reporter once wrote a review of my work by stating, “Calm down, Orrin Hatch; Jillian Kogan’s no flag desecrater. I suppose she felt the need to protect me by way of explanation since I had been making a name for myself by rejiggering the California state flag.
Ironically, for me, the far worse judgments should be placed on the themes that my art identifies from drug abuse, firearm use, the state of mental health, the environment and ethnic identity. These sociopolitical pronouncements aren’t designed as judgments, just assemblages depicting complex realities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jilliankogan.com/
Image Credits
Michael Benson Walt Mancini Joshua Kogan