Peter Shire has been known to design and build whole
rooms ...and palm size angels. Color and wit are combined with line and
structure to create a purely magical illusion of practicality. His sculptural
steel teapots are anthropomorphic, bridging the delicacy and fragility
of insects with the curious appearance of the neo-nearly-scientific. Needless
to say, each teapot leaves you guessing, as at the Mad Hatter's Teaparty,
whether it might get up and walk away.
The drawings capture fresh first thoughts that flow
from his creative center. They bridge prewar and postwar California Modernism
with a child-like, rainy day wonder. When his conceptual drawings are translated
into concrete form, they become objects with staying power vs inspired
but evanescent brain wave. In this exhibition, we have the best of both
worlds: quixotic drawings and functional sculptural forms.
Born in Los Angeles in 1947, Peter Shire cites his
artist-father as his first teacher. His education continued with a degree
from Chouinard Art Institute in 1970.
Solo exhibitions of his work throughout the United
States have been mounted continuously since 1975, with international shows
beginning in 1989. In addition to his objects in private and public collections,
grand and glorious examples of his commissioned pieces can be visited at
the Wilshire/Vermont Station of the L. A. County Metro, the L.A. County
Metro Center Headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, and Elysian Park.