“If you dream. If you love. If you Wonder. One year of becoming Wonderbound” photographic works by Eric Robert Dallimore
Opening Reception: November 1st, 2013. 7-10pm
Exhibition:November 1st-December 1st, 2013
Overview:
During the 2012/2013 Season, photographer Eric Robert Dallimore spent a year photographing Wonderbound (formerly known as Ballet Nouveau Colorado) in the studio and on-stage for every performance. What emerges are 60 intimate portraits of Garrett Ammon and Dawn Fay directing the dancers in the studio, behind the curtain, on the stage, and in the theater. Shot with 3200 speed film in both medium format and 35mm, these silver gelatin prints are stark, impassioned, and singularly intense. These images demonstrate an uncommon power of expression, both from the photographs themselves, and from the dancers captured through Eric’s lens.
By the close of this decade, Wonderbound will be celebrated as a treasure in the international dance community and will be a crown jewel in Denver’s artistic landscape. It will be a leader in a burgeoning creative renaissance that will define Denver as a cultural capital in the world. It will help to obliterate boundaries between mediums to uncover new possibilities in artistic expression. Wonderbound will help re-imagine how the performing arts are created, supported and shared in a rapidly evolving world.
At the Opening Reception on November 1st at Leon Gallery, a one-time small performance piece choreographed by Garrett Ammon will be performed by the Wonderbound Hares inside the gallery. This Flash Mob performance will occur at 8pm and will feature four of the Wonderbound Hares. This celebration of photography and contemporary ballet and dance will be an opening so full of artistic expression that it will leave an indelible mark on the Denver arts scene.
Biography:
As an emerging artist, I continue to explore three mediums: Printmaking, Photography, and Sculpture. Within each of these art forms there is a common thread: traditional active participation. With photography, it is in mastering the art and science of film and the darkroom that is so appealing. Working in film has allowed me to truthfully capture all the quirks of America, the eccentricity of Europe and everything in between. Printmaking allows the dreamscapes of my imagination to come to fruition through the transformation of inks, acids, metal plates, papers and printing presses. Through a progression of materials, sculpting with reclaimed woods allows me to cultivate ideas that embody the current conditions of modern environmentalism and the possibilities when we open our creative minds and utilize our current resources.
The best way I can honor every mentor, teacher, fellow artist and direct experience I have ever encountered, is to use fine art to address the most pertinent issue of modern society: our ongoing ecological arrangement. Artists like Martin Puryear, Kimio Tsuchiya, Andy Goldsworthy, Elliot Erwitt, Josef Koudelka and many other contemporary counterparts have great influence in my work. Just as they were able to master their own disciplines and create bodies of work which spoke beyond the obvious, to address humor, injustice, nature, history, current affairs, and the human condition, I also pursue a lifetime of perfection, understanding, and intelligence within every piece I produce.
In matters of style, I carefully choose to utilize the lessons and techniques of past artists in order to build upon them with a contemporary custom. I enjoy the venerable arts; the tactile, hand created methods. I feel that there is more human interaction in these forms of art, and through this interaction I can continue to grow as a skilled, mastered, artist. Synchronizing the precise, historic methods of creation with a contemporary design, I am able to compose a unique
body of work, one original enough to be considered eligible of study by future generations. This informed art is to become a bridge linking technology, architecture, imagination, passion and possibilities…not limits. Art that reminds us we are a race which has risen, not fallen.
Art is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. Through art we have the ability to speak to a large audience, or to engage an individual on a personal level. This can evoke a feeling that can spark a movement, or cause one to reevaluate everything they have ever known. Sometimes this art is simply meant to be aesthetically pleasing and allows the viewer to feel good about themselves or a situation for a moment. The driving force behind this magnificent ability is the power of our imagination, which demands that each artist challenge themselves to see life through a whole new set of rules and then use the proper medium to bring this vision to life.
I create fine art for the pure purpose of need, I simply must create. I constantly
challenge my work asking: is this the best idea I can cultivate which will best serve humanity? I strive to create informed masterpieces. I expect nothing but the finest craftsmanship and perfect execution in all my works. I work within to cause change from without. For when my time is up, I will ask the question, was this path the best one that I could have chosen to serve humanity? The answer will be yes.
