Michele Pred is a Swedish-American conceptual artist working and living in Oakland, California. As she attempts keep her work relevant to the times, her artwork makes strong statements regarding today's government practices, feminism, and American culture.
Two of her series that stand out to me are called Homeland Security and Promote the General Welfare. Both of these series of works are extremely relevant to different aspects of American culture, commenting on airport security and feminist ideas regarding contraception and choice.
Pred on Homeland Security:
Two of her series that stand out to me are called Homeland Security and Promote the General Welfare. Both of these series of works are extremely relevant to different aspects of American culture, commenting on airport security and feminist ideas regarding contraception and choice.
Pred on Homeland Security:
"Over the past 10 years I have gathered confiscated items from security checkpoints at San Francisco International Airport, in order to express visually how many of our everyday routines have been disrupted since 9/11.
The objects lend themselves to interpretations that resonate with the viewer's own personal experience. In part, I choose to see those objects as representing an arbitrary intrusion of disorder and all that is now lost and unrecoverable.
Moreover, the diverse array of assembled "dangerous" items may be regarded as the cultural residue of a particular moment in history. The fine text on the matchboxes, corkscrews and other items is suggestive of the complex geography of that moment, of people and commodities coming into conjuncture with one another.
Seeing these ordinary objects, most of them so seemingly harmless, as imbued with the potential for danger may make us laugh, as well as make us angry. The complexity of our response echoes the objects themselves: each small tool, like each of us, bears some of the weight of a changed world."
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| Untitled 2011 Airport confiscated razors, enamel on wood |
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| United States of America 2008 Razor blades, enamel, plexi |
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| US Dollar 2007 Wood, enamel, confiscated razor blades |
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| American Red Cross 2005 Confiscated knives on wood |
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| Untitled (Matchbook Heart) 2005 Matchbooks on wood panel |
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| Untitled (Blue) 2003 Confiscated lighters on wood |
Pred on Promote the General Welfare:
"The title of this series is borrowed from the first line in the US Constitution.
Recent activity in the House of Representatives and decisions by the United States Supreme Court leave no doubt that a woman’s right to choose is still under assault and that negative attitudes toward basic health care, like birth control, stubbornly persist. I feel a renewed urgency to defend Pro-Choice and Access to women’s services.
In 1989 I made my first art piece about reproductive rights. Back then, I never would have believed that 25 years later women would have less access to abortion and other critical health services. However, recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court leave no doubt that a woman’s right to choose is still under assault and that negative attitudes toward basic health care, like birth control, stubbornly persist.
My latest work is born out of a renewed urgency to defend Choice and Access. I have created a limited edition series of 48 Pred-à-Porter purses. Each unique piece is made using a vintage handbag from the 1950’s or 60’s. I chose purses as my canvas as a way to marry the politically-charged messages of the Pro-Choice movement with representations of women's modern economic power and the possibilities for change that come with it. For me, the use of purses from the mid-twentieth century also calls back to that critical era and reminds us how much has changed and, more importantly, how much has not.
The text on each purse is created using Electroluminescent wire that is lit up using batteries and a small electronic driver that can be set to constant or flash mode. The purses are meant to be carried and serve as small-scale political billboards.
The exhibition also includes pieces such as a large scale piece that reads My Body My Business in classic pink neon, and boxing gloves emblazoned with the same text.
Finally, this body of work is rooted in my formative years growing up in Berkeley, California during the 70’s, where I was exposed to the women’s movement. It is also a continued homage to my father, Allan Pred who inspired the feminist in me at an early age."
In 1989 I made my first art piece about reproductive rights. Back then, I never would have believed that 25 years later women would have less access to abortion and other critical health services. However, recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court leave no doubt that a woman’s right to choose is still under assault and that negative attitudes toward basic health care, like birth control, stubbornly persist.
My latest work is born out of a renewed urgency to defend Choice and Access. I have created a limited edition series of 48 Pred-à-Porter purses. Each unique piece is made using a vintage handbag from the 1950’s or 60’s. I chose purses as my canvas as a way to marry the politically-charged messages of the Pro-Choice movement with representations of women's modern economic power and the possibilities for change that come with it. For me, the use of purses from the mid-twentieth century also calls back to that critical era and reminds us how much has changed and, more importantly, how much has not.
The text on each purse is created using Electroluminescent wire that is lit up using batteries and a small electronic driver that can be set to constant or flash mode. The purses are meant to be carried and serve as small-scale political billboards.
The exhibition also includes pieces such as a large scale piece that reads My Body My Business in classic pink neon, and boxing gloves emblazoned with the same text.
Finally, this body of work is rooted in my formative years growing up in Berkeley, California during the 70’s, where I was exposed to the women’s movement. It is also a continued homage to my father, Allan Pred who inspired the feminist in me at an early age."
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| Pred-a-Porter, Pro Choice Wall 2015 EL wire on vintage purses (installation image) |
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| Miss Conception 2012 Rhinestones, birth control pills, enamel, metal |
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| American Tourister 2013 Birth control pills, vintage hat case, enamel, varnish |
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| Freedom of Choice 2014 American Flag on wood |
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| In Our Shoes 2013 Birth control pills, vintage shoes, varnish |
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| Miss Conception 2013 Photograph "This performance piece is a wry commentary on 21st century sexual politics, with a focus on birth control and beauty. My outfit includes a beauty pageant dress, along with a rhinestone tiara covered in birth control pills. The embroidered sash that reads "Miss Conception", is made by the same company that provides sashes to the "Miss America" pageant." |
For more on Michele Pred go to her website michelepred.com.
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