Kia’s chief designer Peter Schreyer has revealed his design inspirations through his first solo art exhibition.

The renowned auto designer, who brought a design revolution to Kia with the K-series, showed his other artistic side through some 60 pieces that offer glimpses of his sources of inspiration for automobile design and his life.

“When you do design, you do it to appeal to the audience. But when you do art, it’s completely different. You don’t have to appeal. I do it just with my feelings and things in my life and work on my memories and it’s a completely different side,” Schreyer said at the exhibition opening. 

The artworks include paintings that feature jets and pilots reflecting his “fascination with speed and motion” and abstract paintings that represent memories and experiences in his life as well as sculptures and installation work.

Schreyer expresses on canvas the feelings and ideas that come to his mind, which also becomes inspiration to his rather technical automobile designs.

“I believe art enables me to work freely without any restrictions or limits in design,” said Schreyer.

Art also plays a means to express his inner feelings and memories in his life.

“While my life as a designer takes on this idea of creating things and thinking in the future, as an artist I am trying to fill this gap with my reflections from the past. You could even compare my artwork to a diary, in which I reflect, process and live up memories from my life,” Schreyer said in his note on the exhibition.

Schreyer shares some personal memories that date back to his childhood at his grandfather’s atelier.

Schreyer said he got his artistic gift from his grandfather who was a painter and admits his time spent in the atelier taught him how to design and turn his ideas into reality as a designer.

The exhibition continues through Nov. 2 at Gallery Hyundai Gangnam in southern Seoul.

For more information, call (02) 519-0800 or visit www.galleryhyundai.com.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)