The gallery hosted a public opening on Friday, January 7th, and invited the public to join them - proof of vaccination and masks are required. Though separated by decades, both Paternoster and Moore use their individual approaches to creating imagery that invites their audience to question how they construct meaning in the greater world.
Both have deep roots in the Philadelphia creative community. For over 15 years, Paternoster has been the lead singer and guitarist of the local punk band Screaming Females. Moore was an instructor at The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for just under three decades.
Paternoster's artwork is inspired by the themes of the punk and DIY scenes and the juxtaposition of adult content in child-like surroundings, reminiscent of the cartoons, Mad Magazines, and comic books, which she engaged with throughout her youth. She graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in 2008 with a BFA in painting & drawing.
Marissa Paternoster: Affordable Edition
Moore focuses on the craft of drawing. He uses a variety of materials, such as sticks nibs. He uses brushes to change the delivery of his lines to create texture and shape the space his work uses. He has influenced many artists and continues to do so with his open-ended and generous methodology. Moore was a leading professor at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts until his recent retirement.
In keeping with the gallery's focus on featuring one designer each month from its design capsule collection, Warren Holzman will be January's featured designer. A master craftsman who produced the Nesting Bird Desk Tray, he has invited Commonweal friends to a private. An RSVP is required for a tour of Holzman Iron Studio in Kensington, which has crafted historically crafted sympathetic ironwork for legendary local treasures such as the Bryn Athyn Cathedral and Longwood Gardens.
Michael Moore: Affordable Edition
After opening in October of last year, Alex Conner, owner of Commonweal, prepares six new exhibits this gallery year before closing for August. Throughout the last quarter of 2021, Commonweal hosted three exhibitions featuring six artists and three designers. The gallery supported local non-profit The Attic Youth Center, Philadelphia's premier youth LGBTQ+ organization, by working with local designers to host holiday pop-ups during the holiday season, raising $490 for the organization.
