By Peter Shire
Located in Surfside, FL
Peter Shire (American, b. 1947)
"Naked Lady,"
Painted metal, wire, and found industrial objects sculpture
Dimensions: overall: 72"h x 30"w x 24"d
Peter Shire (born 1947) is a Los Angeles, California artist. Shire was born in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, where he currently lives and works. His sculpture, furniture, painting, prints and ceramics have been exhibited in the United States, Italy, France, Japan and Poland; Shire has been associated with the Memphis Group of designers, has worked on the Design Team for the XXIII Olympiad with the American Institute of Architects, and has designed public sculptures in Los Angeles and other California cities. Shire has been honored by awards for his contribution to the cultural life of the City of Los Angeles. He is an influential LA ceramicist along with and influenced by Ken Price and ceramic master Peter Voulkos. Of a similar mod vibe to Charlie Hewitt and Brad Howe. The Memphis Milano Group was an Italian design and architecture group founded in Milan by Ettore Sottsass in 1982 that designed Post modern furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glass, and welded, painted, metal objects from 1981 to 1988. The Memphis group's work often incorporated plastic laminate and was characterized by ephemeral design featuring colorful and abstract decoration as well as asymmetrical shapes, sometimes arbitrarily alluding to exotic or earlier styles. They drew inspiration from such movements as Art Deco and Pop Art, including styles such as the 1950s Kitsch and futuristic themes. Other members included Martine Bedin Michael Graves, Javier Mariscal, Nathalie du Pasquier, Matteo Thun and Marco Zanuso. He was included in the Sullivan Goss show L.A. in S.B. of Postwar and Contemporary California artists including Emerson Woelffer, Ynez Johnston, Peter Krasnow, Edgar Ewing. Their styles ran the gamut from Post Cubist Abstraction to Abstract Surrealism to Abstract Expressionism. In the rich soil of their efforts was grown the next generation of some of L.A.’s art superstars. As well as contemporary artists such as Ed Ruscha, David Hockney, Charles Arnoldi, Betye Saar, Frank Gehry, Kenton Nelson, Peter Shire, Patssi Valdez, and Dave Lefner.
Further reading
A Neglected History: 20th Century American Craft. New York, New York: American Craft Museum, 1990.
Clark, Garth. American Ceramics 1907–Present. New York, New York: Abbeville Press, 1987.
Domergue, Denise. Artists Design Furniture. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1984.
Fiell, Charlotte and Peter. 1000 Chairs. Italy: Taschen, 2000.
Herman, Lloyd E. Art that Works. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 1990.
Horn, Richard. Memphis: Objects, Furniture, and Patterns. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press, 1983.
Radice, Barbara. Memphis. New York, New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1984.
Taragin, Davara S. Contemporary Crafts and Saxe Collection, The Toledo Museum of Art. New York, New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1993.
Tempest in a Teapot: The Ceramic Art of Peter Shire. New York, New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1991.
Select Museum Collections:
Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York
Berkeley Museum, Berkeley, California
Fresno Museum of Art, Fresno, California
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
The Jewish Museum, New york city
Judisches Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, North Carolina
Museum of Arts and Design, New York
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Museum of Modern Art, Lodz, Poland
Newport Art Museum, Newport Beach, California
Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, California
Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
Sak’s Fifth Avenue, New York
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California
Seattle Museum of Art, Seattle, Washington
Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, California
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Total Contemporary Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom
Selected Solo Exhibition venues
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Chouinard Gallery, South Pasadena, California
Antonia Jannone Gallery, Milan, Italy
Teapots and Drawings, Tobey C. Moss Gallery, Los Angeles, California
LA Artcore Center, Los Angeles, California
S.K. Josefsberg Gallery, Portland, Oregon
20th Century Collage...
Category
1980s Post-Modern Paint Sculptures
