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The Shooting Gallery

October 10 - November 8, 2009

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839 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94109
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C3, KMNDZ & Akira C3, Akira, KMNDZ
Opening Reception: October 10th 2009 from 7-11 pm The Shooting Gallery is proud to present the artists Chris C. Curtis, Akira Beard and Johnny Rodriguez this October. These new works from Curtis question the idea of peace in nature and creation, as well as destruction in humanity. While Akira paints images of dollar bills with the intension to portray what Americans are most obsessed about: consumerism, racism, stereotypes and violence. Rodriguez’s new paintings of robots symbolize ideals of family, history and religion. Please join us for the opening reception on October 10th, 2009 from 7-11 pm. About the Artists: Chris C. Curtis, better known as C3, sees the world through a different perspective. With an amazing capability for detail, C3 creates tightly executed images that are smooth and free flowing. His art reflects a fascination with death, terror, and the unknown. Though his photorealistic drawings with graphite are usually of his friends and colleagues, they might be modeled as a rotting corpse or masked figure wearing a straightjacket. Other drawings are replicas of old photographs from the 1800’s, manipulated to serve an elusive purpose. The extreme amount of time and devotion in each piece is parallel to the amount of detail. With a subtle yet striking feeling about them, the aesthetically beautiful pieces reveal the darkest moments from within. Christopher C. Curtis was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on August 28th, 1981. After graduating from the Academy of Art University, he won three awards in photorealism, figurative and still life drawing and decided to use the money to jump-start his art career in San Francisco. His past exhibits includes a solo show at Gallery Three, Babylon Falling and numerous group shows around the Bay Area. Akira Beard manipulates familiar dollar bill imagery to shed light on popular American conceptions, using luminous portraits of philosopher Karl Marx or rapper Easy-E in place of Benjamin Franklin. His paintings often battle themes of religion, sexual objectification or social change. Portraits along with commercial icons such as the Matel, Coca Cola and the Visa symbol, are approached in a loose, expressive manner. Bright colors of dripping paint direct the viewer’s attention to contemporary corporate symbols that express an exceptional laziness covered in instant gratification. His style, texture and color palette depend on the purpose of the piece, whether to portray perfection or careless flaws. In the end, each painting is a reference point relative to an individual issue and may be the results of, influenced by, and/or has a relationship with money. Since graduating from the Academy of Art University SF in 2004, Akira’s involvement in the arts continues to be closely tied with social issues. He works as an art instructor for “Art with Elders,” and occasionally participates in charity art auctions related to reducing discrimination and homeless relief. He has spent the last three years working on his ever-growing collection of paintings, while exhibiting with several other Bay Area galleries such as Triple Base Gallery, 111 Minna, Space Gallery and White Walls. Johnny Rodriguez, who goes by KMNDZ, paints robots that roam the remains of a lost city. Their metal exteriors are weathered and rusted by time. His paintings are filled with symbolic imagery and religious icons, referencing Dios De Los Muertos and the bible. These robots are keepers of memories, built upon the premise of reflection. Some embody human elements such as an exposed heart, or man-like skeletal system. Others hold human emotions of hate, greed, pride and death or contain love, grace, and truth. Los Angeles based artist, Rodriguez has built an impressive portfolio of both artistic and technological accomplishments. He’s exhibited with galleries such as Le Basse Projects, Think Space and Copro Nason Gallery, as well as worked for some of the world’s premier design agencies and top entertainment companies. Between projects you might find him painting murals on outside walls in such urban art epicenters as Los Angeles and London. Please join us for the opening reception on October 10th, 2009 from 7-11 pm. This exhibit will be showing October 10th through November 7th, 2009 and is open to the public.