La To La

Internationally renowned artist and desinger, Peter Shire, revolutionized the design of household objects, striving to express modernist tenets while examining the practical needs of society. The artist's playful attitude toward life translates into his bold, colorful artworks and functional household constructions. Shire's art in all its forms-furniture ceramics, glass, sculpture, or drawing-captures the colors, exuberance, and rhythm of life in Los Angeles, while simultaneously transcending local boundaries and cultural contexts.

Peter Shire was born in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles, where he currently lives and works. A graduate of renowned Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, Shire was a member of the Memphis Design collaborative. He has had over 100 solo exhibitions nationally. His work can found in over 35 museums worldwide, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and The Israel Museum. His public sculptures can be found in Los Angeles at Elysian Park, the Academy Village Housing Project in North Hollywood, at the Ramada Plaza in West Hollywood as well as in Pheonix and Las Vegas.

Darius A. Spieth is professor of art history at Louisiana State University. He translated and prefaced a bilingual edition of What Language to Say the Arts? French Rhetoric and German Aesthetics in the Eighteenth Century.