BIO
Jen Stark’s art is driven by her interest in conceptualizing visual systems to simulate plant growth, evolution, infinity, fractals, mimetic topographies, and sacred geometries. Using available materials—paper, wood, metal, paint—Stark strives to make work that balances on a razor’s edge of optical seduction and perceptual engagement. In recent years, Stark has introduced new technologies into her diverse practice, delving into the digital realm of interactive projections and distinctive NFTs.
The resulting works often resemble organic, molecular, cloud-like structures, and are imbued with kinetic, undulating effects that serve to dislocate the viewer from staid reality into an immersive ecosphere of echoing patterns and the implausible designs found in nature. Even her vivid colors are in direct conversation with the natural world; the attractant/repellent properties of flowers encouraging pollination or insects warning birds of their poisonous traits, and the luminous mystery of phosphorescent sea creatures are among Stark’s concerns.
Via these corporeal abstractions, spectators are led onto the astral plane; there’s a transcendence to Stark’s work where the vibrational phases become a sacrosanct and curative experience for the viewer. Traces of mandalas or nautili reveal themselves as sacred geometric forms in Stark’s spiritual reservoir.
Stark’s ability to create atmospheric, minimal, naturalist configurations that only reveal themselves after deep engagement align her with the artistic legacies of Yayoi Kusama, Sol Lewitt, Tara Donovan, Tom Friedman, Andy Goldsworthy, Ernst Haeckel, and the Finish Fetish artists of 1960s Los Angeles.
Not limited to the confines of museums and galleries, Stark’s diverse practice—a series of sculptural objects that rely on a commitment to process and hypnotic repetition; charismatic wall works; widely seen murals; intricately animated films; NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and interactive projections—has been exhibited throughout the world, permeating both the physical and digital realms. By adopting cutting-edge techniques to showcase her aesthetic, Stark activates her universe through constant adaptation and transformation.
Stark was born in Miami, Florida in 1983, and studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art, graduating in 2005. Since then, Stark has realized exhibitions globally, with major shows in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Thailand, and Canada. Recently included as one of Fortune’s “NFTy 50,” Stark made history as the first female artist to make Foundation’s top 10 highest selling NFT creatives. Her work is in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the West Collection, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, NSU Art Museum and MOCA Miami, among others.
Stark lives and works in Los Angeles.
CV
EDUCATION
2005 BFA (Magna Cum Laude), Major in Fibers, Minor in Animation, Maryland Institute College of Art , Baltimore, MD
2004 Study Abroad Program, Center for Art and Culture, Aix-en-Provence, France
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Vortex, Porch Gallery with ArtBlocks, Minneapolis, MN
2021 Light Spectrum, Wilding Cran Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Cascade: A Jen Stark Experience, the William Vale, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Dimensionality, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
2019 Color Cascade, Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon
2018 Multiplicity, Wilding Cran Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2013 Vortextural, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2012 To The Power Of, Martha Otero Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Tunnel Vision, City Arts Center, Oklahoma City, OK
2009 The Beginning of the End, LMAK Projects, New York, NY
2008 Solo Exhibition, The Art Gallery at Government Center, Miami, FL
2008 Much-much, Civilian Art Projects, Washington, DC
2008 Place in Space, Carol Jazzar, Miami, FL
2007 Little By Little, Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
2007 Primaries, LMAK Projects, New York, NY
2007 When The Colors Awoke, Bas Fisher Invitational, Miami, FL
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Shaping Gravity: Abstract Art Beyond the Picture Plane, Forest Lawn Museum, Glendale, CA
2023 Interreality, Bitforms Gallery/The Desmond Tower, Los Angeles, CA
2023 My Kid Could Do That, The Greenpoint Loft, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Inaugural Exhibition at Entheon, All One Gallery, CoSM, Wappingers Falls, NY
2023 My Body, My Business, Sotheby’s Auction, New York, NY
2022 Trespassing III, Christie’s Rockefeller Center Galleries, New York, NY
2022 The Light Fantastic, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
2021 The Beyond Within, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ
2021 Electric Psychedelia, Venice, CA
2021 Light the Night, NSU Art Museum, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2020 Black & White vs. Color, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2019 Blow UP II, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
2019 Your Favorite Artist’s Favorite Artist II, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
2018 Elemental, William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2018 How They Ran, Over the Influence, Los Angeles, CA
2018 A State of Infinite Division, Winsor Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2017 Unquestionable Optimism, Johannes Vogt, East Hampton, NY
2017 Cut Up/Cut Out, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
2016 Mirror, Mirror, Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2016 UNTITLED, Eric Firestone Gallery, Miami, FL
2015 Piece by Piece: Building a Collection, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
2014 Somewhere Between Creation and Destruction, University of Hartford, West Hardford, CT
2014 I think it’s in my head, Girls Club Collection, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2014 Way Out West, The Art City Project: public art exhibition, San Franscisco, CA
2014 Dazed and Confused, Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hamptons, NY
2013 Summer Reading, The Hole Gallery, NYC, NY
2013 Paper Works: The Art and Science of an Extraordinary Material, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA
2012 40 under 40: Craft Futures, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, DC
2012 Color Theory: The Use of Color in Contemporary Art, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, CA
2012 Following the Line, Girls Club Collection, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2011 Spectra I, Future Tense, London, UK
2011 Space Out, Space In, Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago, IL
2011 Double Rainbow Rainbow, Show and Tell Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2011 Aesthetics and Values, Frost Art Museum, Miami, FL
2011 Paper Cuts, Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA
2010 Legal Tender, Martha Otero Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Dadarhea, O.H.W.O.W, Miami, FL
2010 Florida Contemporary 2010, Naples Museum of Art, Naples, FL
2010 Jen Stark & Rory Macarthur, Carol Jazzar, Miami, FL
2010 SUBject/subJECT, Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2010 The Real Thing, Ipswich Art Gallery, Ipswich, Australia
2010 Free Size, Sinudom Screen Printing Factory, Bangkok, Thailand
2010 Friends of Friends, GARFO Art Center, Salt Lake City, UT
2010 Floating World Animation Fest, Show Cave Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Compelled, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2009 Set To Manual, Girls’ Club Collection, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2009 An Art Exhibition With a Cause, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2009 Abstract Cinema, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
2009 Collective Compulsions, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
2008 Under the Influence, Girl’s Club Collection, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2008 Optic Nerve X, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
2008 Thirteen/08, Museum of Art Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2008 Portals, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
2007 Littlest Sister, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL
2007 Waves, Civilian Art Projects, Washington, DC
2007 Confluence, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2007 Tiger in a Tropical Storm, Riviera Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Life Size, Scion Installation Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2007 Potential, Twenty Twenty Projects, Miami, FL
2007 The People Under the Stairs, Locust Projects, Miami, FL
2006 4th Annual Flip-Book Festival: International Traveling Exhibition, Little Cakes Gallery, NYC, Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA; Reg Vardy Gallery, UK
2006 VERSION>06: Parallel Cities-Group Group Show, Iron Studios Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005 The Yard at Casa Lin, Casa Lin, Miami, FL
2005 Artscape, Mount Royal Avenue, Baltimore, MD
2005 Co operate, Bas Fisher Invitational, Miami, FL
2005 Picture Window, Outdoor Installation on abandoned house, Baltimore, MD
AWARDS/GRANTS
2008 Winner of MOCA North Miami Optic Nerve 10th annual film festival, Miami, FL 2008
2008 South Florida Cultural Consortium's Visual and Media Artists Fellowship, Miami, FL
2007 Artist Enhancement Grant, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, Miami, FL
LECTURES
2023 When Art Gets Personal, Indianapolis, IN, May 20
2023 The World as a Canvas, with MeowWolves Vince Kadlubok & Android Jones, MAPs Psychedelic Science, Denver, CO, June 23
2022 A Psychedelic Dive into Arts, Fractals, and NFTs, University of Oregon School of Art + Design, Eugene, OR, October 20
2022 Building for a More Secure Future: Navigating the Choppy Waters of Innovation, Christie’s Art+Tech Summit, New York, NY, July 19
2022 Physical to Digital, VeeCon, Minneapolis, MN, May 22
2018 The Universe of Jen Stark, CoSM, Wappingers Falls, NY, May 11
2014 Art, Science, and the Cosmos SCI-Arc, Los Angeles, CA, January 15
2013 Art & Conversation with MOCA Curator Alma Ruiz, Martha Otero Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, November 3
2012 Visual Arts Thinkers Series, Chapman University, Orange, CA, October 17
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
2019 Bullseye Glass Company Artist Residency, Los Angeles, CA, July - November
COLLECTIONS
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Miami International Airport, Miami, FL
Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
Museum of Art Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
The West Collection, Oaks, PA
The Christy & Bill Gautreaux Collection, Kansas City, MO
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
Microsoft Art Collection, Redmond, WA
The Goldman Collection, Miami, FL
The Girls Club Collection, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
The Sagamore Collection, Miami Beach, FL
Debra and Jeff Wechsler Collection, Miami, FL
Soho House Miami Collection, Miami Beach, FL
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATIONS/MURALS
2023 Ooze II, Mural & Installation, McDermott, Will & Emery, Miami, Fl
2022 Chromatic Reflection, Installation, McDermott, Will & Emery, London, UK
2021 Chromatic Ooze, Mural, HBO Offices, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Fractal Infinity, Installation, Gensler, San Francisco, CA
2021 Geometric Spectrum, Installation, McDermott, Will & Emery, New York City, NY
2021 Drip, Mural, Sweetgreen, Miami, FL
2021 Cosmic Connection, Installation, CitizenM Hotel Miami Brickell, Miami, FL
2020 Light Spectrum, Installation, FIGat7th, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Cosmic Growth, Terrazzo Floor, Jackson Memorial Hospital Rehab Center, Miami, FL
2019 Spatial Reflection, Sculpture, McDermott, Will & Emery, Boston, MA
2019 Fractal Reflections, Sculpture, Great Parks Neighborhoods, Irvine, CA
2019 Spectral Frequency, Sculpture, McDermott, Will & Emery, Century City, CA
2018 Tunnel Vision, Sculpture, Santa Monica, CA
2017 Chromatic Cascade, Mural, Arts District, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Ooze, Mural & Installation, McDermott, Will & Emery, Miami, FL
2016 Drip Down, Mural, Hard Rock Stadium, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2015 Mural, Facebook Headquarters, Menlo Park, CA
2015 Mural, The Surf Lodge, Montauk, NY
2015 Technicolor Ooze, Mural, Culver City, CA
2014 Driptych, Installation, Billboard installation, Art City Project, San Francisco, CA
2014 Meltdown, Mural, Miami International Airport, Miami, FL
2013 Wormhole & Drippy, Sculpture & Mural, Fashion Outlets of Chicago, Rosemont, IL
2012 Cosmic Explosion, Mural, Vornado, Washington, D.C.
2011 Acid Free, Mural, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2008 Distant Dimension, Mural, Sagamore Hotel, Miami Beach, FL