ArtInfo: Basel from an artist's point of view

During this year's Art Basel Miami I wrote a story for ARTINFO.com from a local artists point of view. It highlights my favorite artwork and moments of this year's fair. Check out the story and slideshow HERE. .

.

"The convention center on South Beach that houses Art Basel Miami Beach is where all this madness began in 2001. The insanity has been returning to Miami annually, with all the events and satellite fairs surrounding the main fair seeming to grow larger each year. But somehow, between leading around out-of-town friends, partying, and rubbing my swollen feet, I saw some really amazing art. After hanging my own work at SCOPE fair (with Carol Jazzar Gallery), I decided to scout out and photograph some of my favorite artworks all around Miami.

Since Art Basel is what bred all the other satellite fairs, I covered the artwork at that huge fair first. I spent two long days looking around the convention center and wasn't even able to see everything. This fair is so huge that you need to take breaks from all the art-watching or your brain could explode. The slide show at left is a snapshot of the Basel Miami art experience through the eyes of one local Miami artist".....read on

.

.

"Legal Tender" at Martha Otero Gallery


My work will be in a group show in Los Angeles at Martha Otero Gallery. If you're in town, check it out:


LEGAL TENDER Martha Otero Gallery November 20, 2010 - January 8, 2011 Opening Reception: Saturday, November 20th from 6 to 8 pm

A group exhibition featuring work by:

E.V. Day
Dzine
John Espinosa
Rob Fischer
Matt Greene
Adam Janes
Brad Kahlhamer
Jose Parla
Travis LeRoy Southworth
Jen Stark
Centrifugal / 40" x 31" x 5" / hand-cut paper on wood backing / 2010

For more information contact www.marthaotero.com

Nylon Magazine

NYLON Magazine just did a feature on Miami for their November issue. It highlights young creatives in Miami including Jacuzzi Boys, Alvaro Ilizarbe, FriendsWithYou, Sweat Records, and myself among others. Thanks to Natalie Shukur and Nicole Michalek for this awesome article!  Click on images to enlarge:

MIAMI - By Natalie Shukur, Photographed by Nicole Michalek

THE HOME STUDIO of artists Jen Stark and her boyfriend Alvaro Ilizarbe, a.k.a. Freegums, in Little Havana is an explosion of markers, pots of paint, tubes of crazy glue, rafts of colored construction paper, tubs of Play doh, and kitsch souvenirs, (from a toy llama to a bronze bust of Tutankhamun). It’s the creative pied à terre of a pair who are the sartorial embodiment of their work. Stark is the color crusader, today resplendent in a tie-dye top and miniskirt adorned with multicolored ribbons. Her arresting, intricate, rainbow-hued paper sculptures have attracted international attention, making her one of the most promising young artists on the Miami scene. One of her early pieces, “How to become a Millionaire in 100 days,” involved cutting 10,000 scraps of paper a day for 100 days, resulting in a stunning sculptural mound of confetti. On the table in front of us sit half-finished psychedelic felt-tip drawings, which she will show at the SCOPE satellite fair during art Basel in December. Freegums’ graphic drawings are as detailed as Stark’s, but in contrast (like his black skinny jeans and black and white tank top), are devoid of color. T-shirts are his medium of choice, on which he prints satirical slogans, dizzying patterns, and “crazy creatures.” also in his portfolio: large-scale paintings on wood, album artwork for musician Mayer Hawthorne, T-shirts for local band Jacuzzi Boys, and an installation he created for the opening of Bar during last year’s Art Basel where he plastered the walls with his brain-bending prints. “We feed off each other’s energy,” he says of being in a creative couple. “Sometimes we’ll both be sitting here drawing and I’ll be in the zone, and I’ll look up and she’ll be in the zone, too.”

SCOPE Art Fair MIAMI

I'll be showcasing some installation pieces at SCOPE Art Fair this year at Carol Jazzar's booth #A21.  If you're down for Basel, make sure to check it out! JEN STARK at SCOPE with Carol Jazzar booth #A21 NOV 30th - DEC 5th,  2010 Midtown / 3055 North Miami Avenue / Miami, FL 33127

Check out the SCOPE website or Carol Jazzar website for more info.Jen Stark at SCOPE with Carol Jazzar gallery booth #A21

SCOPE ART FAIR HOURS First View: Opening Tuesday Nov 30 (VIP) / 3pm-9pm General Admission Fair Hours: Wednesday, December 1 / 11am-6pm Thursday-Saturday, Dec 2-4 / 11am-7pm Sunday, December 5 / 11am-6pm

Creatives Desks

I was asked to do a post on the site: Creatives Desks. It's a blog showcasing creatives desks from around the world. Check out mine HERE.

Jen Stark was born in Miami, FL in 1983 and graduated with a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005, majoring in Fibers with a minor in Animation. She frequently uses materials such as paper and wood, striving to create complex structures that reveal how remarkable common materials can become. Stark’s ideas are also based on replication and infinity as well as hypnotic, optical designs that mimic mandalas and sacred objects. www.jenstark.com

Miami Herald "20 under 40"

The Miami Herald just came out with a new article featuring 20 creative South Floridians under 40 years old. Each person was nominated by the community, and I made the cut! Here is an online link to all the artists selected, and an easier to read online article on myself HERE.

PERFORMANCE: Ohwowies, The Magical Goat and Triplet

During the DADARHEA Show at O.H.W.O.W. on Friday August 13th,  Alvaro Ilizarbe (AKA Freegums), Sam Borkson (FriendsWithYou) and I created 3 magical creatures and did a live performance during the opening. We blew poppers, feathers, and glitter out of our costumes and pranced around ringing bells. Here are a few photos.

Alvaro Ilizarbe (left), Jen Stark (center) and Sam Borkson (right)

"DADARHEA" at O.H.W.O.W in Miami

If you're in Miami on Friday, August 13 come check out a wild opening of a group show I'm in at O.H.W.O.W.
Opening reception Friday, August 13, 2010 8pm.



DADARHEA August 13 - August 31, 2010 3100 NW 7 Avenue / Miami / Florida / 33127


Welcome to DADARHEA. An idea born from an absurd dream involving pee filled supersoakers and deep fried laptops. It's a dadaist pizzeria. It's idea-rhea. It's the video art equivalent to fantasy island - where Devin Flynn is the Mr. Roarke to Jim Drain's tattoo. Dadarhea is freeform video workshop with a group of guest artists who pride themselves on confounding their audiences, allowing them to employ animation, live action video (on location and greenscreen), musical performance, or any and all improvised & questionable behavior. Through the month of July, a residency at OHWOW (MIAMI) and at Bec Stupak's Honeygun Labs (NYC) will take place in order to experiment with the possiblity of total video saturation. The finished video will premiere on August 13th with an accompanying installation comprised of any and all emphemera related to the project. Dadarhea-ists include: Devin Flynn, Jim Drain, Naomi Fisher, Ara Peterson, Joe Grillo, Takeshi Murata, Francine Speigel, Melissa Brown, Marie Lorenz, Todd James, Brian Belott, Jessie Gold, Michael Williams, Erin Krause, Alvaro Ilizarbe, Jen Stark, Friends With You, Billy Grant, Laura Grant, Alison Kuo, Eric Fensler...and more!

MIAMI TIME Pirate Radio Show

This past Monday night from 7-9pm, our friend Gio asked us to host our own call in pirate-style radio session for her show "Miami Time" on WVUM (the local UM station).  Alvaro Ilizarbe (FREEGUMS) and I invited callers to call in live as they told us about their dogs, girl problems, how to squeeze owls, and read bible scriptures. All while we played songs from Ethiopia, to Miami Bass, to outer space! It was a wild and crazy time! Listen to the whole show here:.

miamitime-freegums_jenstark1.gif

Check out Gio's website Miami Time & the WVUM website.

Jen Stark & Rory Macarthur: Opening May 14

My work will be in a 2-person show on May 14, 2010 in Miami at Carol Jazzar's. It should be an amazing show, so if you're in Miami, come out! Jen Stark & Rory Macarthur: Opening Friday, May 14 from 7-11 pm at Carol Jazzar's. JenStark

Carol Jazzar is pleased to present JEN STARK / RORY MACARTHUR, a two person exhibition of new three-dimensional work.

Miami based Jen Stark’s vibrant oeuvre of the last few years comes full circle here with works that pay homage to her own prolific trajectory. A recessed paper hole in the wall reminiscent of a seminal early work sets the tone for a reflective collection of characteristically mystifying sculptures. Complex gradients and intricate, mingling lattices of color and geometry push the envelope of the artist’s own expectations and explode the ocular sense. A freestanding zig-zag form that invites viewers to encompass it, beguiled by its illusionistic surface further enforces the 360 degree quality to this offering.

Rory MacArthur's series is an ambitious investigation into what the artist perceives as the limitless possibilities of non-representational painting. Borne of voluminous, fastidious preparatory drawings, many of which are realized as final works, these candied beauties, all pink, green and melted, exemplify a thoroughness of approach that is important to emphasize in light of their effortless appearances. From an elaborate but direct process involving the repeated carving, sanding and sealing of multiple layers of Styrofoam, the painting, applied to its labor intensive substrata with both roller and air, enamels its topographic playground like a seductive skin, undermining and underlining the inherent physicality.

With shared concerns, exhaustive methodologies and a penchant to produce catalysts for a kind of spiritual reverie through meditation and psychedelic awe, these artists and their occasionally overwhelming creations seem to tease magic from thin air, making work that floats and pulsates as if supplied by an unseen force. Each piece exacting a kind of visual dance with illusionistic qualities of surface and paint, our privilege is not so much to witness, as it is to participate.

158 NW 91st Street  •  Miami, Florida  33150  •  P 305 490 6906

Tote Bag

I designed these tote bags especially for an art show in Bangkok, Thailand called "FREESIZE". Made from durable white Thai canvas, each bag is screen-printed and sewn by hand. Created with 7 screens, and printed on both sides of bag. Now available in the SHOP section:

totey1 totey2

"FREESIZE" video by Op Sudasna

Here is a video of the "FREESIZE" Bangkok show by Op Sudasna. It shows the space, interviews with the artists, and the opening. He edited down hours and hours of film into this great piece! Take a look:

FREE SIZE - Bangkok, Thailand

I will be in a group show near Bangkok, Thailand (Bang Khun Thian) March 13. Let your friends know! To produce the exhibition FREE SIZE artists Jen Stark, Juan Angel Chavez, P7, and Alvaro ‘Freegums’ Ilizarbe, will work for one week in the Sinudom Silk Screen factory creating works of art.

By bringing these contemporary artists into a global manufacturing hub, the realms of production and creation will exist in a simultaneous space, transforming this modest factory into an active generator of creative capital. “free size” encourages viewers to see industrial spaces as incubators for creative thought and social evolution.

Exhibition is presented by APEXart – New York City, NY

freegums-freesize_thailand-preparty

Pre-Party INFO (March 11th) Exhibition INFO (March 13th)

The exhibition will be located at:                              Show runs:  March 13 - April 17th, 2010 Sinudom Silk Screen Factory                                   Opening Reception: March 13th 2-6PM 35/21 Moo 1, Sakaegnam Road                               Participating artists will be in attendance. Samaedam, Bang Khun Thian

March 13 there will be a free shuttle bus from Bangkok to Bang Khun Thain (a close smaller town where the opening will take place)