Artopia 2015 Artist Eric Dallimore: Let's “Handle Things the Way Mother Jones Would Have”

Being Eric Dallimore isn't an easy job. The Westword MasterMind earned his award in 2014 for doing double-duty as a thoughtful installationist using natural and found materials in his work and a gallerist at Leon, a gallery that not only mounts well-curated art exhibitions but also hosts intimate concerts, art dinners and readings. And when he hits the floor tomorrow night at Artopia 2015, he'll be bringing a beautiful and complicated invitation to activism with him.

“I will be unveiling a contemporary, conceptual installation titled 'I Promise You a Better Future.' It's comprised of 140,000 matches, bourgeois wallpaper, pitchforks, ice blocks, blankets and torches,” Dallimore explains. “It's a poem, really, in six parts. Each element is a stanza commenting on what is happening and what needs to happen for change.

“This installation stems from recent conversations I've been having with people of all walks of life who are growing more concerned with the rising disparity of the mis-distribution of wealth in our country, he adds. “We've got an elite few who are becoming wealthier, corporations becoming too powerful and the rest of us are stuck behind, finding it harder and harder to make a respectable living.

“Despite our awareness of the problem, we still feel powerless. We are complacent. We complain and we moan, but we do nothing. This installation is a call to action. Thaw out your pitchforks, light your torch, and let’s go set things straight and handle things the way Mother Jones would have done it!”

Meanwhile, back at Leon, Beautiful Pornography, a solo show by Scott Barman for Month of Photography 2015 opens tonight with a reception from 7 to 11 p.m. and runs through March 29. Learn more about Leon and future events there online. And get your Artopia 2015 tickets online, too, before it's too late!