HONG KONG.- Over the Influence is presenting Silhouettes, Soufflés & Succotash, an exuberant exhibition of new paintings, sculptures and design objects by legendary Los Angeles based artist Peter Shire. With an eye towards experimentation, Silhouettes, Soufflés & Succotash showcases Shire’s unique inventions. A world of color and light derived from Shire’s over five-decade career utilizing motifs both old and new, like familiar gradients and paint splatters, mixed with clean lines and curving neon.

A founding member of the Memphis Group, the Milan-based, post-modern, radical design collective, Shire is acclaimed for his instantly recognizable design that prioritizes humor, whimsy and the quirky joys of human expression. For his first exhibition with Over the Influence, Shire is exploring a new series of neon paintings, alongside new works on paper, and never before seen ceramic and metal sculptures.

These objects and paintings mimic the colors and forms of the domestic objects of Shire’s iconic practice while entirely removing the utilitarian aspects often found in his work. Painted in Shire’s signature speckled gradient, the neon paintings activate all of our fantasies and associations with neon simultaneously, bringing our love/hate relationship with the glowing, gas-filled tubes into focus. Coupled with gouache works on paper containing small comical characters atop Shire’s architectural structures, are metal and ceramic abstract sculptures reminiscent of miniature radio towers.

In the back gallery, a selection of chairs responds to a vintage Ettore Sottsass design that had handles on the edges of the seat. Shire’s chairs, adorned with flags, tassels and gradient paint, literally elaborate on Sottsass’s spirit of utility.

Concurrent to Peter Shire’s exhibition in Hong Kong, Over the Influence Los Angeles in collaboration with Friedman Benda is presenting a solo exhibition of historical works by Ettore Sottsass.

Peter Shire was born in Los Angeles in 1947. He has exhibited profusely throughout much of the world at such places as Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Jewish Museum, New York; Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Los Angeles, Gallery Saito, Japan; Lulu, Mexico; among others. His work can be found in museum collections such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Stedlijk Museum, the Netherlands; Total Contemporary Art Museum; South Korea and Victoria and Albert Museum, United Kingdom among others.