Vote for Democracy, A Curated Selection of Work by Michele Pred
Engaging the current policies and political structure that are imposed upon us, the exhibition presents a call to action in the form of art.
Barrett Barrera Projects is pleased to announce Vote for Democracy, a curated selection of work by Swedish-American artist Michele Pred taking place October 13 to November 7, 2020 at projects+gallery on Artsy.
In her artistic practice, Michele Pred uses sculpture, assemblage and performance to uncover the cultural and political meaning behind everyday objects, with a concentration on feminist themes such as equal pay, reproductive rights, and personal security. As Pred’s work implores us, now more than ever we must raise our voices to protect the freedom of all people, especially those historically disempowered. This exhibition is timed around a historical election, the outcome of which will determine the sociopolitical course of our nation for years to come. Pred’s body of work is a not only a vivid expression of the political climate, but a vital reminder of the power that the American people have to effect change and how important it is to exercise our right to vote.
Sculptural pieces from a series titled Power of the Purse include vintage purses emblazoned in neon with phrases culled from the current social resistance movements, such as Vote Feminist (2019) and call us to both reflection and action. In this context, the vintage mid-century purses become not only symbols of the modern economic power women hold and the possibilities for change that come with it, but also reminders of that critical era in the women’s movement. An altered vintage voting booth, Choices (2019), underscores the importance of exercising one of our primary civil rights—granted to women only within the last century—and the implications and impact that our political participation has on the autonomy of the disenfranchised.
In a recent interview, Pred stated:
“Anti-progressive forces, sometimes directly and consciously, sometimes not, have been fighting back on a multitude of fronts, but most visibly on issues of what a woman can choose to do with her own body. My work, in part, tries to draw out attention to this wider context.”
Barrett Barrera Projects is a cross-disciplinary group of originators who redefine art experiences and push boundaries to explore the continuously expanding spectrum of art forms. We see art where others see separate disciplines. At Barrett Barrera Projects we focus on the intersections, because that’s where new ideas and experiences emerge. Our team produces, manages, consults and advises on emerging contemporary art and non-traditional media.
projects+gallery is a commercial art gallery created by Barrett Barrera Projects and designed to feature contemporary exhibitions and artists that blur the boundaries of traditionally understood artistic disciplines and practices. The gallery features regional, national and international artists working in a variety of mediums. The address is 4733 McPherson Avenue St. Louis, Missouri 63108.
Michele Pred’s artwork is part of the permanent collections of the Berkeley Art Museum, the 21c 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 a Pro-Choice Leadership Award from Personal PAC, Chicago, and has shown at Jack Shainman Gallery as an original member of the first artist-run super PAC, For Freedoms. Pred has exhibited both nationally and internationally at the Neuberger Museum, White Plains, NY; Bild Museet and Kulturhuset in Sweden; University of Westminster, London; Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco; University of Technology, Sydney, Australia; Omi International Art Center, Ghent, NY; ASU Museum, Tempe, AZ; the Honolulu Museum of Art, HI; and the Museum of Design Atlanta, amongst others. Pred received her BFA from California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA. She was born in San Francisco and lives in Oakland, CA.