jen stark transforms new york city gallery into kaleidoscope of color

los angeles based artist jen stark transforms new york city’s joshua liner gallery from a white cube into a kaleidoscope of color with her inaugural solo exhibition ‘dimensionality.’ with the series, the artist continues to investigate a balance of ‘optical seduction and perceptual engagement.’ the organic geometries of each cloud-like piece imply kinetic and undulating qualities. the vibrant colors are expressive of the ‘attractant/repellent properties of flowers encouraging pollination or insects warning birds of their poisonous traits, and the luminous mystery of phosphorescent sea creatures,’ while the visual configurations ‘simulate plant growth, evolution, infinity, fractals, mimetic topographies, and sacred geometries.’

all images courtesy of the artist and joshua liner gallery
gradial continuum, 2019

in her conceptual development, jen stark has taken influence from processes within the fields of mathematics and science. such formulaic processes include fractal growth, the fibonacci sequence, and riemannian geometry — the theoretical exploration of curved space in the flat universe. the artist elaborates: ‘I think a lot about fractals — one small shape that is identical to the next and keeps on going infinitely.‘ expressive of this concept is a suspended piece entitled ’30 cubed.’ the volume is grown of a serial sectioning of thirty aluminum sheets. from the front, a spiral fractal manifests from inside of the cube, moving outward.

gradial continuum, 2019

dimensionality at joshua liner gallery features stark’s colorful paintings, sculptures, installations, and a mural. as the exhibition title suggests, stark plays with painting and sculpture by adding or accentuating the dimensions of her work, often transforming two-dimensional objects into three-dimensional ones. ‘squared,’ comprised of thirty-five square sheets of powder coated aluminum, inhabits the wall like a painting. each sheet, painted a different color, has a concentric square fold that extends outside the picture plane towards the viewer. stark adds an extra dimension to ethereal vortex by projecting subtle moving waves of light onto the surface of the painting using lightform, a device that projects augmented reality. the waves strobe and pulsate, creating the illusion of something static coming to life.

gradial continuum, 2019