In light of recent threats against the licensing of Missouri Planned Parenthood, Michele Pred and projects+gallery to resurrect pro-choice billboard
projects+gallery is thrilled to partner with Swedish American artist Michele Pred to present the second installment of a billboard featuring an image of Pred’s sculpture Your Body, Your Business in downtown St. Louis. The billboard was originally displayed in the Fall of 2018 as part of projects+gallery’s participation in For Freedoms 50 State Initiative. In light of recent threats against the licensing of Missouri Planned Parenthood, the decision was made by the artist and projects+gallery to resurrect the billboard, which is currently visible from westbound I-64 near Busch Stadium.
In addition to this billboard, Pred has created a Kickstarter fundraiser for billboards in Alabama and Ohio, in which she states her motivation for action: “Right now, American women are facing yet another surge in right-wing, reactionary efforts to control their bodies. This time, legislatures in Alabama, Missouri, Georgia, Ohio and others states have recently passed highly restrictive laws aimed at bringing a case to the now stacked conservative Supreme Court in a calculated effort to overturn Roe v Wade. We must answer with the voice of the majority!”
The subject of this billboard is taken from a larger body of sculptural work by the artist titled Power of the Purse, which serves as a call to action for women, and men, to redouble their efforts to fight the growth of moneyed privilege and show up at the polls.
“I chose purses as my canvas as a way to marry the powerful, politically-charged language of today’s resistance (often direct responses to Trumpian statements) 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 in the women’s movement and reminds us how much power we can have to effect meaningful change,” states Pred.
This project was recently covered in Ms. Magazine; read the article here.
About the Artist
Michele Pred 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 concentration on feminist themes such as equal pay, reproductive rights, and personal security. Pred’s projects also contain social components that drive the conversation into public spaces. Examples include her exploration of the intersection of personal space and security by 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.
Pred has been represented by the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York since 2004. Her work is part of the permanent collection at the Berkeley Art Museum, the 21st C Museum, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York, the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu, and the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York. Pred received her BFA from California College of the Arts, Oakland, California. She was born in San Francisco and lives in Oakland, CA.