SPACE 242 , Boston’s lowbrow destination, proudly announces its October 2009 exhibitions: MONSTERS ON MY MIND featuring new work by Jason O'Keefe; DUST COLLECTORS, featuring new work by Marielle Sinclair; HEROES FOR GHOSTS, featuring new work by Tom Dupere, and FUZZY NIGHTMARES, featuring new work by Stones. The exhibition, on view October 30 through November 20, features a variety of new work by these four artists. The opening reception, Friday, October 30, runs from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in Boston’s South End, 242 E. Berkeley Street, 2nd floor (between Albany Street and Harrison Avenue). The artists will also host an artist talk Tuesday, November 10, from 7:00 to 8:00p.m. RSVP required for attendance at either event at ww.space242.com. Regular gallery hours are Friday evenings, 6:30-8pm, and by appointment. No RSVP is necessary for visiting during regular gallery hours.

SPACE 242's October exhibitions are sponsored in part by Harpoon, The Melting Pot, The Weekly Dig, and ArtScope Magazine.

JASON O’KEEFE makes his SPACE 242 debut with MONSTERS ON MY MIND, a body of work created with wax, bronze, and duct tape. When asked what he favors about these mediums, he says “they seem to work for me…and I’m stubborn.” This exhibition, according to O’Keefe is “about giving life to figments of my imagination. About being strange. I like living between worlds. At least I wish I could leave this world from time to time. Occasionally I seek refuge within my own mind.” O’Keefe cites influences including Ray Harryhausen, Stan Winston, Jim Henson, Fantasy Art Illustrators (including those in the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manuals), Heironymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, Albrect Durer, J.R.R. Tolkien, Frank L. Baum, Mary Shelly, Bram Stoker, and “the amazing dinosaurs that walked the earth long ago.” His work has been shown throughout the Boston area and has appeared in ArtScope Magazine. O’Keefe earned his B.F.A. in Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He works at an after school program at Graham & Parks Elementary School in Cambridge, runs a Dungeons & Dragons game weekly, as well as a Slulpy Sculputre class. Originally from Dorchester, O’Keefe resides in South Boston.

MARIELLE SINCLAIR makes her SPACE 242 debut with DUST COLLECTORS, a body of work created with fabric, wire, wax, hair, and thread. “My process has a lot to do with manipulation,” she says, “I intuitively grab materials to stuff my pieces, including waste from the process, like part of their soul. I deconstruct and reconstruct, manipulating materials until the creature emerges, suggesting its personality to me. My materials are humble and generally allude to the body: thread and hair become viscera; wax, fabric, and paper suggest flesh; wire is like bone.” This exhibition, according to Sinclair is about “the pathetic, vulnerable, fragile and tragic…appreciating that which is not typically seen as beautiful. Beauty compels man to destroy nature, and I’m interested in the aftermath.” Sinclair cites influences including “anatomy, surgery, sewing, disease, mutations, organic forms, nature, anything industrial, shipyards, the crap found on beaches washed up from the ocean, rusty metal, decay, horror movies, special effects make-up, stop motion animation, and industrial music.” Her work has been exhibited and published throughout the Boston area. Originally from Long Island, via Denver, Sinclair earned her B.F.A. in Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

TOM DUPERE makes his SPACE 242 debut with HEROES FOR GHOSTS, a body of work created with found materials, ink, and acrylic. Originally from Amesbury, MA, he is a self-taught artist, who considers himself influenced by “every skateboard graphic and punk rock record of the 1980s.” His work, which has been exhibited throughout the Boston area, includes, says Dupere, “pieces of songs, bits of conversations, and everyday encounters with the world. This exhibition “is an extension of past paintings. The cut-out characters are a way of bringing them ‘more to life.’” Of the use of text in his work, he says “I have always been a fan of language – in books, lyrics, or someone telling a story. I use text directly and indirectly – people can make their own opinions.” Building stakeboard parks for a living, Dupere has access to scrap wood, which he turns into artwork. “I love the way the wood grain looks and creating something out of trash.”

STONES makes his SPACE 242 solo exhibition debut with FUZZY NIGHTMARES, a body of work of acrylic and spray-paint on wood. He works with wood “because it can take so much more abuse and I can do so much more with it than canvas.” His illustrative, cartoon pop stylings are, according to the artist “a product of decades of cartoon watching and countless hours of rummaging around in my own head. Looking back as an adult, the child-like nightmares aren’t as scary as remembered.” The guidelines are simple, “monsters are scary. Robots are cool. Jelly beans are tasty. Teddy bears will protect you.” A fan of lowbrow and pop surrealism, Stones cites influences including Glen Barr, Bob Dob, Parskid, MCA, Buffmonster, Chris Uminga, Jeff Soto, and Joe Keinberger. His work has appeared throughout Boston, including SPACE 242’s 2008 Halloween group exhibition, Phantasmagoria. He studied graphic design at Northeastern University, but “hated most of it. I started painting on my own after that.” Stones grew up on “the mean streets of Watertown,” and now resides in Belmont, MA