As you all probably know—and may be sick of hearing about—Miley Cyrus hosted the sensory overload that was MTV’s Video Music Awards this past Sunday night. But one of the least talked about yet most eye-catching features of the show and its promotion was the dazzling, drippy work of artist Jen Stark.
The 32-year-old Miami native holds a Bachelors of Fine Art from Maryland Institute College of Art, where she majored in Fibers and Animation. She, alongside her husband (and our super homie) Alvaro Ilizarbe, AKA designer of Freegums and co-creator of the FriendsWithYou art collective, transplanted from Miami to LA a few years ago.
Her psychedelic art work has been displayed at Smithsonian American Art Museum, MOCA Miami, the Miami International Airport, and other numerous highly acclaimed institutions around the globe, including Facebook’s Menlo Park office in California, which was designed by Frank Gehry.
It was Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips (who was Miley’s co-collaborator on recent album drop, “Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz“) introduced Miley and Jen right as MTV was reaching out to Jen to work on the VMAs. Simultaneous serendipity? Maybe. Jen’s bold use of color and oozing whimsy perfectly complimented Miley’s cyber-pop-punk aesthetic as well as streamlining nicely with this year’s new moon man designed by fellow rainbow fanatic, Jeremy Scott.
Jen Stark’s work was recently featured on the tear-away cover of the July issue of Cosmopolitan magazine (which ironically, once torn away, revealed Niki Minaj on the cover).
“I feel like I curate everything I post on there now…It’s almost like a gallery show on the internet.” – Jen Stark on her Instagram to Miami New Times. Follow her @JenStark for further trips.
