Margaret Tedesco
Another way of juggling, 2022 (After Paul Nougé, 1929–30)

September 18–November 6, 2022
Opening reception: Sunday, September 25, 1–3pm

“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.” —René Magritte

Margaret explains her relationship to this image, an altered photograph of a more lucid form of juggling:

This photograph, A new way of juggling by Surrealist poet Paul Nougé has traveled with me for decades. It conjures the unconscious, allowing a means to unlock the imagination to move towards choice. Another way.

The Surrealists hoped the psyche had the power to reveal contradictions in the everyday and spur on shifts in thought. They saw their work as a means of reuniting conscious and unconscious realms of experience, so that the world of dream and fantasy would be joined to the rational world.

As of late, I have been thinking a lot about “the subtle body,” our intuitive and energetic anatomy. This practice calls up active presence, and is the energetic blueprint of the gross body, used as a map of the central nervous system. These levels of the body are collective in nature, and exist outside the constraints of space and time. Nougé’s “new way” prompts the question: How can we become more sensitive to the subtle aspects of breath, body, and mind as tools to better manage both our stress and pain?

Artist and independent curator Margaret Tedesco has presented and collaborated with artists, writers, choreographers, and filmmakers for over three decades. From 1999 to 2006, Tedesco was a curatorial member of the now historic New Langton Arts; and simultaneously co-founded Moving Target Series, a roaming venue in San Francisco. In 2007, she established 2nd Floor Projects, an artist-run exhibition and publishing imprint, and received the Southern Exposure Alternative Exposure Award. 2nd Floor Projects has participated in Printed Matter’s New York & Los Angeles Art Book Fairs, the San Francisco Art Book Fair, Berlin Art Book Fair, and SFMOMA’s Printed Publics exhibition. She has also been a contributor to SFMOMA’s Open Space, and Visual AIDS online exhibitions. As an artist, Tedesco has exhibited nationally and internationally.