peter shire

los angeles
echo park
peter shire

interview by EMILIEN CRESPO
photos from PETER SHIRE’S ARCHIVES
photography by OLIVIER ZAHM

Peter Shire, the only American member of the Memphis group in the 1980s, has been working out of his Echo Park atelier for decades, producing huge numbers of colorful artworks that blur the line between domestic objects and abstract sculpture. His work was the centerpiece of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. Recently, he received well-deserved recognition for his shows at MOCA in 2017 and at Kayne Griffin Corcoran gallery this year. We met him in his massive studio on Echo Park Avenue.

PETER SHIRE INSTALLING THE 1984 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC VILLAGE, ATHLETES’ ENTERTAINMENT CENTER AT UCLA PHOTO GARY LEONARD

EMILIEN CRESPO — You have so many beautiful ceramics everywhere.
PETER SHIRE — That’s the problem! [Laughs]

EMILIEN CRESPO — A simple cup like that is based…