Michele Pred (born 1966) is a Swedish-American conceptual artist whose practice includes sculpture, assemblage, and performance. Her work uncovers the cultural and political meaning behind everyday objects with a particular focus on themes like equal pay, reproductive rights, and personal security. Her projects also contain social components that drive the conversation into public spaces. Examples include her exploration of the intersection of personal space and security using airport confiscated items after 9/11, the cultural background of the fight for reproductive rights using thousands of expired birth control pills and the continuing economic and political struggle for women's rights represented by her modified vintage handbag editions.
Biography Pred was born in San Francisco. She grew up in Berkeley, where her father, Allan PredSocial Scientist Allan Pred was a professor of geography at the University of California, and in Stockholm."The Hunt Is On". Oakland Magazine, Linda Childers. September–October 2012 She attended California College of the Arts in Oakland in the 1990s and graduated with distinction in Interdisciplinary Arts.
Career Vote Feminist, Pred's fall 2018 solo show at Nancy Hoffman Gallery, foregrounded political issues of voting, pay inequity based on gender and race, and gun violence.
During Miami Art Week in November 2017, Pred organized a Parade Against Patriarchy. Pred curated artists to participate from all over the United States including Pussy Hat creator 'Krista Suh.
For "Equal Pay Day" on April 4, 2017, Pred handed out precisely cut dollar bills to "reflect the pay percentages paid to women based on their race." Pred performed her art work for an hour on Market street in San Francisco to spread word about the gender pay gap.
April 14, 2017 Amy Schumer included Pred's limited edition "Pro Choice" handbag in her "19 Things Amy Schumer Really Loves" interview with InStyle. Schumer also promoted the handbag on Instagram.
In October, 2016 Pred, dressed as a 1960s era stewardess handed out "Official Air Travel Replacement" pocket knives in the San Francisco International Airport's baggage terminal to commemorate the 15th anniversary of September 11 and the passage of the Patriot Act.
In 2016 Pred created a series of T-shirt designs promoting women's reproductive freedom."Features: Women’s section". San Francisco Chronicle, By Leah Garchik. May 23, 2016 t-shirt designs Her work is in the permanent collection at the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York."Meet Oakland Artist Michele Pred" Lou Fancher.Diablo Magazine, October 6, 2016 ."Michele Pred Birth Control: Artist Uses Pills As A Medium In New Exhibition, ‘Amendment’" Huffingtonpost.com, February 2017
Pred created an art series as a response to Supreme Court decisions limiting access to abortion and contraceptives for women."Pro-Choice Artist Puts Politics on Prêt-à-Porter Purses." Martinez, Alanna. Observer, N.p., 30 Jan. 2015. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. Michele Pred Birth Control: Artist Uses Pills As A Medium In New Exhibition, 'Amendment'Huffington Post, February 7, 2013. In 2007 she created an exhibit featuring items confiscated at airports for security reasons."Berkeley artist reworks contraband artifacts of ‘fear culture’". Daily Californian, April 13, 2016"How Michele Pred Fights Fear Culture". Lou Fancher.East Bay Express, August 30, 2016.
Pred was an adjunct professor at California College of the Arts from 2007 to 2015."California College of the Arts: Faculty: Michele Pred." Michele Pred. California College of the Arts, 2015. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.
Collaborations & Public Projects Pred is a member of For Freedoms, the first artist-run Super PAC founded by artists Eric Gottesman and Hank Willis Thomas. She has participated in several projects with the organization including an exhibition at Jack Shainman in New York, and her project #HerBodyHerVote at Expo Chicago, 2016, and an electronic billboard "My Body My Business" by the San Mateo Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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