Michele Pred "My Body My Choice"

Michele Pred "My Body My Choice" 2025

Vintage Purse and Electroluminescent Wire
Dimensions: 15" x 10" x 3" in
Unique
Signed on the inside, Includes certificate of authenticity.

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, concentrating on feminist themes such as equal rights and reproductive freedom. Her modified vintage handbag editions portray the ongoing economic and political struggle for women's rights. She has been represented by the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York since 2004.Her purses have been exhibited across the US and internationally, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, The Fashion Museum in Hasselt, Belgium, Stockholm, Sweden, Beijing, China, and Hong Kong. An installation of 20 purses is part of the permanent collection of the Berkeley Art Museum (BAMPFA) in Berkeley, CA.

Since January 2016, Michele Pred has organized 15 feminist art parades and activations in cities including New York, Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco, Miami Beach, and Stockholm, Sweden. She has also curated feminist public art exhibitions, such as the 2022 Vote For Abortion Rights campaign, which showcased works by 10 artists on billboards across 14 cities in 12 U.S. states.

“I use purses as my canvas to merge the bold, politically charged language of today's resistance with symbols of women's economic power and the potential for change it represents. By working with mid-20th-century vintage purses, I reference a pivotal era in the women's movement, reminding us of our collective power to drive meaningful progress. Made to be carried, these purses function as small-scale political billboards. Each message is illuminated with Electroluminescent wire.

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.” - Michele Pred

For more information on the exhibition visit our website.