Photos courtesy of Michelle Pred

Thought provoking. Polarizing. Clever. Outrageous. Passionate. These are all adjectives that describe the artwork of Michele Pred, a Swedish-American conceptual artist whose works uncover the cultural and political meaning behind everyday objects, with a focus on themes like equal pay, reproductive rights and personal security. Her St. Louis exhibit, Freedom is for Everybody, functions as a representation of her commitment to human rights issues and a continuation of her larger project to drive these topics into public spaces. The exhibition presents a call to action in the form of art. Pred’s work implores us, now more than ever, to raise our voices to protect the freedom of all bodies, especially those historically disempowered. 

Pred was born in San Francisco and grew up in the Bay Area and in Stockholm. She currently resides in Oakland and Stockholm with her husband and daughter. She has exhibited nationally and internationally at the Neuberger Museum, White Plains NY; Bildmuseet 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; Museum of Design Atlanta, amongst others. Her work is part of the permanent collection at the Berkeley Art Museum, the 21st C Museum, the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York.

Freedom is for Everybody runs through August 7, 2021, at projects+gallery, 4733 McPherson Ave. The exhibit is presented by Barrett Barrera Projects, a cross-disciplinary group of originators who redefine art experiences and push boundaries to explore the continuously expanding spectrum of art forms. 

Says Pred, "I have been working with projects+gallery since 2016 when they featured one of my pro-choice artworks on a billboard. I love their programming and really appreciate their focus on social justice. I look forward to visiting St.Louis for the first time in May for the opening of the exhibition!"  

In support of the institutions that fight for and provide necessary services to women, five percent of the proceeds from all sales of her altered purses in the exhibition will also be donated to Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri.