During this year's Art Basel Miami, I'll be showing new work at Untitled Art Fair on Miami Beach. My 2 latest sculptures will be exhibited in Eric Firestone's booth. December 3-7th located on South Beach at Ocean Drive and 12th street. Come by and check it out! More info here: http://www.art-untitled.com/
#LIGHTSHOP with Paul Kasmin Shop
During Art Basel Miami I will have a new light sculpture edition available through Paul Kasmin Shop. The opening will take place at the Soho Beach House on Miami Beach.
PK SHOP x MdM #LIGHTSHOP will be open daily from December 4 - 7, 2014, 11AM - 6PM at the Soho Beach House, Miami Beach located at at 4385 Collins Avenue. Featuring artist editions by Mattia Bonetti, Saint Clair Cemin, FriendsWithYou, Marcia Grostein, Deborah Kass, Claude Lalanne, Elle Muliarchyk, Ivan Navarro, Courtney Smith, Jen Stark, and other artists in collaboration with the traveling ethical fashion pop-up Maison de Mode, this year marks PK SHOP's second collaboration with MdM, founded and curated by creative director Hassan Pierre and social activist and Town & Country editor Amanda Hearst and collaborator Lily Kwong.
Tunnel / 11" x 12" x 14" / hand-cut MDF wood, spray paint, varnish, glue, light bulb & 12 ft cord / 2014
Pool Party Miami
I'm excited to announce a new limited edition pool float I designed for a FriendsWithYou X Grey Area curated pool party at Soho Beach House on Friday Dec 5th from 4-8pm. Come out, celebrate with us, and bring your bathing suit! Please RSVP to this email if you plan to come: rsvp@thegreyarea.com
Grey Area Presents, Pool Party, a limited edition series of artist designed pool toys curated in collaboration with FriendsWithYou! From a giant googly-eyed rock by FriendsWithYou, to a rainbow colored intergalactic wheel by Jen Stark, to a pair of oversized pink breasts by Misaki Kawai, to a seven-and-half-foot tall basketball player by Devin Troy Strother, these inflatable sculptures expand the limits of how art can be experienced. Join in on the fun and experience art in an entirely new way!
Installation at the Gagosian Gallery
If you're in LA, check out my new installation in the Gagosian Gallery Beverly Hill's bathroom. It should be up through September 2014. Gagosian Gallery / Beverly Hills 456 North Camden Dr Beverly Hills, CA 90210
"Way Out West" Public Art Billboard
I just created a billboard "Driptych" in San Francisco through The Art City Project. If you're in the city, go take a look. In San Francisco on 16th & South Van Ness.
July 7th - August 17th, 2014
Join us for the Way Out West launch event on July 17th!
The Art City Project proudly presents Way Out West, a celebration of the idea of California and its history as fertile ground for dreamers, pioneers, and counterculture. The exhibition reflects on the changing social landscape of the West Coast and explores the role of contemporary art in public spaces.
Way Out West revisits the California experience by transforming outdoor advertising into new space for art to live and breathe. The month-long installation — which spans billboards, transit shelters, bus takeovers, and other alternative space throughout San Francisco’s transitional inner Mission neighborhood — will feature art from contemporary artists with roots in California.
Brett Amory / Apex / Pakayla Rae Biehn / Anthony Discenza Double Zero (Annie Vought and Hannah Ireland) / Jeremy Fish Casey Gray / Desirée Holman / Chris Johanson / Jet Martinez Alicia McCarthy /Alia Penner / Andrew Schoultz Dave Schubert / Jen Stark / Zio Ziegler
and featuring artwork by Creativity Explored artists Andrew Li, John Patrick McKenzie, and Kate Thompson
Curated by Tova Lobatz and Jenny Sharaf
Art Alliance: The Provocateurs
I'll be showing 2 new pieces in a group show in Chicago from July 31 - August 4, 2014. Art Alliance: The Provocateurs will be held at Block Thirty Seven, 109 N. Dearborn Street, in a 25,000 square foot space encompassing an entire city block in the heart of the Loop. More information at: http://www.artalliance.com/info/
Cosmographic / 34" x 37" x 4" / acid-free paper, holographic paper, glue, wood / 2014
Splatter / 60" x 48" x 1" / acrylic paint on MDF / 2014
Splatter (detail) / 60" x 48" x 1" / acrylic paint on MDF / 2014
Ghosting Volume #8 - Film screening in Los Angeles
On Saturday March 29th, my animation "Believer" will be featured in a film screening in Los Angeles called Ghosting.tv. Feel free to come out and see some amazing short films and animations! Al Jarnow, Semiconductor, Jen Stark & Joe Merrell (in stereoscopic chromadepth!) And a special presentation of 16mm by: Lost and Found Film Club. More info at http://ghosting.tv
March 29th 8pm
Ghosting Volume #8 1205 N Main St Los Angeles CA
Ghosting is a monthly hang out for experimental animators and video artists.
Short screenings by a rotating group of artists will be featured each month. Come and hang out! Network with your peers OFFLINE in a chill environment lubricated by your favorite spirits. BYOB!!!!!!!!!!!!
New mural and hanging sculpture in Chicago
I was commissioned by The Arts Initiative (Primary Projects) to create a large mural on an escalator "Drippy", and an 8ft x 20ft hanging sculpture "Wormhole" in the new mall Fashion Outlets of Chicago. The Arts Initiative, a newly formed collective dedicated to placing highly interactive visual art in public venues, announced a lineup of more than 10 nationally and internationally recognized contemporary artists for its initial installation, which will be housed within the forthcoming Fashion Outlets of Chicago.
Artists Include:
Daniel Arsham, Bhakti Baxter, Jim Drain, Friends With You, Cody Hudson, Alvaro Ilizarbe, Andrew Nigon, Kenton Parker, Bert Rodriguez, Jen Stark & Austyn Weiner.
The brainchild of AWE Talisman Chairman Arthur Weiner, which is curated by acclaimed Miami-based collective Primary Projects, the installation will include work from the likes of artists Daniel Arsham, Jim Drain, Friends With You, Bert Rodriguez and Jen Stark, among others. This project represents the future of highly interactive visual art in public venues: artist-driven ideas actively integrated into the architectural framework and viewing space.
The artists chosen by The Arts Initiative will enrich and enliven the multi-level shopping center in a way that is sure to redefine public arts spaces for years to come.
Drippy-lores
Photo by Clayton Hauck
Drippy-02-lores
Photo by Clayton Hauck
foc_artsinitiative_I2A5155_small
Photo by Clayton Hauck
foc_artsinitiative_I2A5175_small
Photo by Clayton Hauck
Fashion Outlets of Chicago, located in Rosemont, IL, is developed, owned and operated by AWE Talisman and Macerich. The 530,000 square foot fully enclosed structure spans two floors and includes a diverse portfolio of more than 130 outlets. The Fashion Outlets of Chicago will open August 1, 2013.
Fashion Outlets Chicago 5220 Fashion Outlets Way, Rosemont, IL 60018
"Summer Reading" group show at The Hole Gallery
My work is included in a group show at The Hole Gallery in NYC. I hope you can make it out.
Tri Angular / 35" x 35" x 25" / acrylic paint on wood / 2010
SUMMER READING July 18 – August 24, 2013 OPENING: Thursday, July 18 from 6-9pm
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Airan Kang / Alexander Rodriguez / Andre Saraiva / Andrew Kuo / Brad Phillips / Brian Belott / Brian Dettmer / Clare Rojas / David Shrigley / Devin Troy Strother / Dustin Yellin / Gareth Long / Geoff McFetridge / Harland Miller / Hollie Chastain / Holton Rower / Jacqueline Rush Lee / Jen Mazza / Jen Stark / Jesse Edwards / John Copeland / Kembra Pfahler / Leo Fitzpatrick / Long Bin Chen / Matthew Higgs / Matthew Stone / Michael Dumontier / Miranda July /Neil Farber / Paul Bright / Peter Funch / Scott Reeder / Sean Landers / Shane Bradford / Simon Evans / Taylor McKimens / Toilet Paper / Troels Carlsen
The Hole is proud to present “Summer Reading”, a group exhibition and transformation of our Bowery galleries into a giant art book reading room. With works of painting, drawing, sculpture and photography, artists in this show explore the relationship of literature and print media to the realm of fine arts, or perhaps the slippages of meaning and experience between the act of reading and that of looking.
Please join us any lazy summer afternoon to come in to check out the exhibition and grab something off the shelves and sit in a big chair and peruse it. With over five thousand titles within reach on our shelves, including contributions from Printed Matter, D.A.P., powerHouse Books, PictureBox, Anteism and many of our gallery friends, this free reading room will contain a lot of new titles and rare old catalogues.
Our library furniture was generously provided by Bright Lyons in Brooklyn, run by Paul Bright whose contribution to the exhibition is an installation of his massive zine collection installed on the back wall of the gallery.
VORTEXTURAL solo show in Toronto opening July 5th
I'm happy to announce I'll be having a solo show in Toronto opening Friday July 5th from 6-10pm. If you're in the area I hope you can make it out.
VORTEXTURAL A solo exhibition by Jen Stark Cooper Cole Gallery in Toronto
Opening July 5th from 6-10pm
For more information, please contact the gallery: INFO@COOPERCOLEGALLERY.COM WWW.COOPERCOLEGALLERY.COM +1 647 347 3316
art ltd writeup
Here is a great review of my 2012 solo show at Martha Otero Gallery. It is featured on Art ltd. Magazine and written by Shana Nys Dambrot. Check it out HERE
Jen Stark: "To the Power Of" at Martha Otero Gallery by Shana Nys Dambrot Jan 2013
Jen Stark is a woman who knows how to make an unforgettable entrance: literally. Not only has she managed a smashing debut as an official LA-based artist, moving here from her native Miami a matter of weeks before the opening of "To the Power Of;" but the most dazzling of all the hypnotic works in that show are a pair of sculptural objects carving out geodesic portals that shimmer like rainbow rifts in the fabric of space. Both the freestanding Cosmic Distortion, 2012 (standing 36 1/2 inches) and the wall-embedded recess Whole, 2012 (with a radius approximately 42 inches) are impressive feats of patience, precision, and advanced fractal mathematics that beckon viewers forward, daring them to lean further, to reach inside when no one is looking, to go in. These negative spaces contain within their receding dimensions crisply defined, twisting stacks of cut paper, orchestrated to replicate geological, cosmological, and striated optics. Engineered through a process of algorithmic measurement and chromatic zestiness, her results speak to both the mysteries of sacred geometry and funhouse psychedelia.
By way of contrast, the wall-hanging Cascade (69 inches long) is made with the same classroom-simple set of materials, but references looser kinds of fractal math, such as that which might formulate the patterns of a waterfall, or a peacockÕs feathery spread. The level of dense, tiny detail in all the work seems to defy the limited powers of the hand and eye, rendering with a microscopic precision and macroscopic perspective at the same time, laying claim to the universal fundamentals of material structure, and to the joy of pure delight. Other acrylic paint-based works reference the striated fields, or alternatively set them to dissolving in waves of layered, organic, expressive abstraction. Those paint and felt-tip on paper works are vibrant and organic and quite beautiful, like ramshackle English-style gardens infused with a jazzy palette; but it's the construction-paper constructions that possess the alluring oomph of the magical. They don't depict so much as they evoke, or reenact, the sacred geometry of crop circles and star maps--but with a whiff of light-hearted Burning Man-style paganism, a nod to schoolroom craft time, and a wallop of post-Op Art abstraction.
The Miami Project Fair during Art Basel Miami: New holographic work
Come check out my 2 new holographic pedestals during Art Basel Miami at The Miami Project Fair. I'll be exhibiting in booth #719 with Cooper Cole Gallery. The fair is on from December 4th-9th. Check their website for hours: http://www.miami-project.com
The Miami Project Art Fair Booth 719 / Cooper Cole Gallery 2951 NE 1st Ave. Miami, FL 33137
DETAIL "Holographic Square" / 17" x 17" x 36" / acid-free foam board, holographic paper, glue, wood & paint / 2012
"Holographic Square" / 17" x 17" x 36" / acid-free foam board, holographic paper, glue, wood & paint / 2012
"Holographic Circle" / 20" x 20" x 35.5" / acid-free foam board, holographic paper, glue, wood & paint / 2012
Art & Conversation with MOCA curator Alma Ruiz, artists Jen Stark & Sam Borkson (FriendsWithYou)
Please join us for an afternoon of art and conversation with MOCA curator Alma Ruiz, Artists Jen Stark and Sam Borkson (FriendsWithYou). Saturday November 3, 2012 at 3pm. On the occasion of Jen Stark's gallery exhibition To the Power Of.
Please RSVP at: gallery@marthaotero.com
Martha Otero Gallery 820 N Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90046 #(323) 951-1068
Smithsonian's "40 Under 40" book
The Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery came out with a book of their current show that my work is included in "40 Under 40: Craft Futures". Here is the article and photos of the book. If you'd like a copy for yourself, the book is also available to purchase HERE.
"40 UNDER 40" group exhibition book Written by: Nicholas R. Bell
The politics of craft, often so close to the surface, are largely absent from the paper sculptures of Jen Stark. Rather than tackle the deficiencies of contemporary culture, these unexpected objects serve as psychic way stations--colorful oases for individuals to de-stress through the contemplation of joyful things. In this sense they take up anew the mantle of Fancy--boisterous and bright aesthetic movement of the early nineteenth century that reframed American decorative arts through a whimsical lens. The exploitation of vivid color and pattern was paramount then, and returns as the foundation of Stark's oeuvre.
The artist first turned to paper as a student seeking an affordable medium, and from a materials standpoint even her most complex works remain deceptively simple in their construction. Start stacks sheets of drawing paper in the order she wishes them to appear, then cuts into them one leaf at a time, finding rhythm in their expanding geometries. She cites fractals as an influence on her work, and it is easy to see the attention paid to such natural phenomena. The tight margins between layers of color mimic evolutionary progress--the smallest shifts altering the final makeup the whole.
Power of Being is indicative of Stark's eye-popping style. A six-pointed star leaps off the wall, lending the paper a dynamic topography, then trickles down in ragged layers to a distant root. Alternating color pairings are both playful and suggestive of the star's meaty past, while its lingering tail invokes the underbelly of an iceberg. It is only one trick up Stark's sleeve to convey depth through the slimmest of things. Piece of an Infinite Whole demonstrates the artist's ability to transform space through the stacking of paper. In this case she has broken through a wall, removing the piece from the actual gallery, as if the right combination of colors might open up a wormhole in otherwise staid white cube. This rupturing of the standard plane is a recurring theme in Stark's work, and marks a current of provocation running beneath the simple pleasure of viewing it.
Stark underscores the labor inherent to her medium in How to Become a Millionaire in 100 Days. Toying with this culture's get-rich-quick mentality, and the notion of wealth as the accumulation of currency (i.e., paper), she has individually cut one million pieces of paper and left them in a glorious pile of bespoke confetti. A quick calculation based on the title uncovers a working rate of ten thousand scraps cut per day, a pace that would make anyone blanch, and one that serves to highlight her physical as well as mental determination.
Ultimately, Stark's palette and her deft use of the knife enchant not only through their brilliance, but also through her transformation of the most common of materials into something unique. Functionally, these strange forms serve little purpose, but to lose them would also be to miss them as one misses the most practical of things. Such is the importance of our ability to escape down the nearest, brightest rabbit hole.
To the Power Of: Installation Shots
Some installation shots from my solo show at Martha Otero Gallery. The show runs through Dec 1st, so if you're in LA come by.
(Installation view) photo by Brandon Shigeta
"Cosmic Distortion" / 22.5 x 22.5 x 36.5 in / Hand-cut acid-free paper, glue, wood, foam board / 2012
photo by Brandon Shigeta
"Prismatic Radiation" / 47 x 47 x 1 in / Wood, acrylic paint / 2012
photo by Brandon Shigeta
(Installation view) photo by Brandon Shigeta
"Whole" / 3 x 3 x 3.5 ft / Installation of hand-cut acid-free paper, foam board, glue / 2012
Martha Otero Gallery 820 N Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90046 #(323)951-1068
"To the Power Of" solo show in Los Angeles
Martha Otero Gallery is pleased to present Jen Stark’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, To the Power Of.
Opening Reception is September 28th from 6-9pm. Show runs through December 10th.
Jen Stark’s work is instantly recognizable for its breathtaking color spectrums rendered in mind-bending forms cut from paper, wood and other organic materials.
Stark's sculptures seemingly reconstruct elements of time, nature and the cosmos on an exponential scale. She draws inspiration for her works from the rhythmic visual qualities of mandalas and other such sacred objects, while they simultaneously behave like the imagery of topographic maps, geometric repetitions and three-dimensional prisms. This aligns directly with her interest in mathematics: ‘to the power of…’ being a statement of exponential growth also infers the definition of ‘power’ as both the possession of physical or mental control and the fortitude to act decisively. Her unique experience working with fibers is displayed in her delicately constructed patterns, which resemble the flowing movements of fabric versus the perceived rigidity her actual core materials. Stark's unflinching attention to physical detail and a commitment to shaping the object into something far beyond its origins result in a body of work which borders on the unbelievable.
With each successive individual project, Stark becomes bolder in her efforts to lure viewers into her kaleidoscopic environments. The work stands alone as a signature piece of superior craftsmanship and imaginative prowess, but Stark remains conscious of how the work is inextricably bound to real space and time. In this vein, Stark pushes the envelope of visual art production, recalling both the psychedelic experience of Op Art and the endearment of handmade totems and mystic charms.
Jen Stark was born in Miami in 1983. She received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005, with a concentration in fibers and a minor in animation. Stark was the 2008 recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium's Visual and Media Artist Fellowship and, in the same year, won first prize at MOCA North Miami's 10th annual Optic Nerve Film Festival. Stark's work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Chicago, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, London and Miami. Stark has been the subject of televised interviews for PBS Arts, WLRN South Florida and the Wet Heat Project. Stark's work is held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, the West Collection in Oaks, Pennsylvania, and the Cricket and Martin Taplin Collection at the Sagamore Hotel in Miami Beach. Stark lives and works in Los Angeles.
For more information and artwork inquiries, please contact: gallery@marthaotero.com
820 NORTH FAIRFAX AVENUE LOS ANGELES, CA 90046 t. 323 951 1068
PULSE MIAMI Dec 1 - 4, 2011
During Art Basel Miami Dec 1-4th, 2011, I'll be exhibiting at PULSE Art Fair with LMAK Projects (NYC) in booth C-100. I hope you can make it out if you're in Miami!
More info here: http://www.pulse-art.com/miami/
Spectra I at Future Tense (London) opening Nov 24
I'm excited to announce that I'll be in my first UK group show in London at Future Tense opening November 24th. The show is called "Spectra I" and I'll be showing alongside artists Lee Baker, Adam Ball, Chuck Elliott, Katrin Fridriks, Haroshi, and James Marshall. Should be an amazing show so if you're in London, stop by and see it! Show runs through December 18th.
Opening Reception November 24th from 6-9pm
Check out more info here: http://www.thefuturetense.net/
PULSE Los Angeles
Come see my new work at PULSE Art Fair in Los Angeles with Show & Tell Gallery (Toronto). Fair runs September 30 - October 3
Event Deck at L.A. Live 1005 West Chick Hearn Court Downtown Los Angeles, California
Dadarhea CANADA Gallery
If you're in NYC this weekend, check out a wild and crazy group show I'll be in.
Friday February 25 from 6-8pm at CANADA GALLERY in NYC.
"Art Dizzle" / 18" x 24" / mixed media on archival art board / 2011 / By Sam Borkson, Jen Stark & Alvaro Ilizarbe
For this show, our collaboration "Art Dizzle" was made in the spirit of fun, friendship and creativity. The result is a collage of layering and built up craziness. There were no rules and no talking. In the work, we used some pieces of fabric and sequins from our actual costumes in the live Dadareah performance at OHWOW.
The opening night will feature a screening of Dadarhea and a special live performance by Robert Beatty of Hair Police and Three Legged Race, to accompany a video mix by Devin Flynn and Takeshi Murata. Throughout the month, Dadarheans will invite you to participate in a variety of workshops, events and musical performances. In celebration of this premiere and residency, CANADA has printed a special book complete with a DVD of the film!
Dadarheans include: Devin Flynn, Jim Drain, Francine Spiegel, Taylor McKimens, Takeshi Murata , Ara Peterson, Leif Goldberg, Jessie Gold, Bec Stupak, Neil Fazzari, Naomi Fisher, Melissa Brown, Erin Krause, Laura Grant, Brian Belott, Johnny Woods, Rich Porter, Billy Grant, Alison Kuo, Alvaro Ilizarbe, Jen Stark, Ross Goldstein, Trish Riefert, Debbie Tuch, Sam Borkson, Bert Rodriguez, Jeffery Williams, Michael Williams, Marie Lorenz, Annie Pearlman, Seth Cooper and Joe Grillo.
For more information visit in the EVENT PAGE or CANADA Gallery website.