C3

Before the Sun Dies, Part 1 “Tempest Horizon” is a look into the darkly captivating world C3 has brought to life through his delicately detailed works. Acting as the first part in a trilogy, Before the Sun Dies builds upon the introduction C3’s previous shows In Search of New Land and 777 had introduced. Inspired by old Westerns and the Wizard of Oz, the show embodies a film sensibility, with many of the smaller pieces set up like stills one might see used to introduce the main characters in a movie. It’s a fitting design for a concept that will only completely unfold further in the future.

C3’s tightly executed graphite drawings capture the ghostly quality of antique portraits, with beautiful features and an elegant surface. Visages are captured with a sensitivity that highlights the fear and anxiety of looking out into a harsh and sometimes bleak world. Throughout the body of work we’re only allowed glimpses of the dusty interiors and open plains the people in these portraits inhabit, but even in these small patches there is the feeling of a lawless wilderness seeping in. The drawings, both modeled from life figures and old photographs, seem not of our time yet strangely familiar- almost recognizable; snapshots of a land alternatively soothed and torn by unknown forces, divided in ways we can’t quite guess.

Tulsa, Oklahoma native Christoper C. Curtis lives and works in San Francisco. Known for his photorealistic renderings, C3 creates striking works drawn together by an over-arching narrative that explores a land filled with uncertainty and danger. As a graduate from the Academy of Art, C3 has exhibits throughout the bay area, including solo shows at Gallery Three, Babylon Falling and Shooting Gallery.