"Predilections" is the next exhibition at Nancy Hoffman Gallery, a show of new works by San Francisco-based artist Michele Pred. The exhibition opens on February 10th and continues through March 15th. There will be a reception for the artist in the gallery on Saturday, February 24th, from 4-6 pm.

Pred’s title for the show, “Predilections,” is both a play on the artist’s name, and her penchant for incorporating contemporary culture and politics in her art. The exhibition is dedicated in honor of her father Allan Pred, who passed away January 5, 2007. He was Professor of Cultural Geography at University of California Berkeley for 45 years and greatly influenced the themes used in her art. This is revealed in Pred’s predilection toward work that comments on contemporary society, while plumbing what might be considered its cultural artifacts, the range of objects now forbidden for travel, and using these objects as her sculptural palette and material. Pred’s preference for unconventional materials has been constant throughout her work; she employs materials associated with memory of time, place, and events. Most of her materials come from San Francisco’s International Airport, these material have been confiscated since 9/11/2001. Pred says of her raw materials ”the diverse array of assembled ‘dangerous’ items may be regarded as the cultural residue of a particular moment in history…each small tool, like each of us, bears some weight of the changed world.” While 9/11 changed the nature of Pred’s palette, the artist has used sharp objects to create sculpture for the past 18 years, a visual metaphor for her personal pain, sometimes using these objects to create hearts; a poignant contrast of shape and substance.

Her “Veil of Deception” is a curtain of nylon filament and scissors, which traverses the entire width of the gallery. Hanging from the ceiling, the nylon threads hold hundreds of pairs of confiscated scissors, suspended at varying heights. Pred says of this work: “Veil of Deception” is at once a delicate vision of lightness and a threatening boundary. As the name implies, the curtain-like veil is representative of the psychological and social illusions that prevent one from seeing reality. The veil safeguards our illusions, which are bewitching in their appeal, yet injurious in their deceit. As well, the dangling scissors are perhaps an unconscious recreation of the symbolic sword of Damocles and serve to reinterpret that ancient moral tale: Those who would abuse their power should remain wary of those who would take it from them.” A beautiful gossamer work, “Veil of Deception” draws the viewer to it, and keeps the viewer at arm’s distance out of harm’s way of the scissors sharp points.

New for Pred is the combination of a found object--a glimmering three-tier glass chandelier--with objects that have been confiscated at airport security checkpoints. This piece is an impressive array of silver scissors, which dangle like ominous jewels from the chandelier. The chandelier is a visual exclamation for the fragility of our lives in the 21st Century. The hanging sculpture, which works to warm a room with light, has beauty and “edge.”

Glass is a new material in Pred’s work in the last few years. Her floor sculpture, “Breaking the Glass Ceiling,” is a stack of shards of glass. Like the chandelier and the “Veil” it draws one in for closer viewing by its alluring material, casual shape, seductive surface, and yet it keeps one at a distance by virtue of its sharp contours. Pred’s ceiling on the floor is a potent metaphor for the topsy-turvy environment of the early 21st century, splaying open the seduction and downfall of the dominant power structure.

Pred’s Berkeley studio is filled with boxes in which she sorts her materials. Scissors are sorted by color of handles, knives are placed together, cell phones are in a big box, cell phone chargers overflow the bounds, clippers with images are in one box, and silver clippers are in another. Razor blades have their own space—a new favorite object for the artist. Pred first used blades to create a “Blade Blanket.” She followed this with an American Flag; she painted the stripes and stars on the silver blades yielding a powerful wall sculpture. Her newest blade piece is a red cross. Again she has painted silver blades in red, which are mounted to a red cross shaped wooden support. The symbol of a universally known organization is taken to another level in Michele Pred’s hands.

Pred has expanded her vocabulary of image, form, and materials in her second New York show revealing the strength of her conceptual underpinnings, the thoroughness of her research, and the range of her sculptural expression which continue to blossom.

Michele Pred was born in San Francisco and is of Swedish and American heritage. She received her B.F.A. with distinction from the California College of Arts and Crafts, and a certificate in French Language from University of Sorbonne, France. She also attended San Francisco State University, California as a graduate student. Michele is founder of Quorum San Francisco, a Bay Area based art collective. The organized ventures of Quorum San Francisco (www.quorum-sf.org) range from intimate events held within the local community to large scale group exhibitions and projects realized on an international stage.

Her work has been shown at Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, Ohio; California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland; The Hearts in San Francisco Project, California; Millesgården Museum, Sweden; Napa Valley College Art Gallery, California; San Francisco State University Gallery, California; Sonoma Museum of Visual Art, California. She was prizewinner at Close Pegase Winery, Sonoma and Sanchez Art Center, Oakland, California and was Designer of the first annual Webby Award, San Francisco.

The artist resides in Berkeley, California.

For additional information and/or photographs, please call the gallery at 212-966-6676 or e-mail info@nancyhoffmangallery.com.

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