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Commonweal

Commonweal is dedicated to exhibiting the work of emerging and mid-career Philadelphia artists.

02/20/2025

In celebration of April as National Poetry Month, COMMONWEAL is hosting a poetry competition juried by Alison Lubar, Amy Saul-Zerby & Raena Shirali.

Poets are encouraged to submit up to three poems observing the themes of prophecy, prediction, and revelation. Poems should be emailed to [email protected]. Submissions will be accepted through 23:59, Friday, February 28th.

Five poets will be selected and invited to perform their poetry at the gallery on Saturday, April 5th, along with the jurors. All poems will be included in a commemorative publication under the COMMONWEAL press.

02/19/2024

As part of Natessa Amin’s “Feed the Moon” on view through Saturday, March 2nd at COMMONWEAL, we have four Gouache and Wax Crayon on Black Paper drawings created as preparatory works for paintings featured in the exhibition.

Each artist develops their artworks in different ways and it’s always exciting to see how they refine and organize their images as a way to end up with the most powerful formulation.

It’s wonderful to have these pairings on view at the gallery to offer our audience more insight into Amin’s development of her imagery.

COMMONWEAL is open Wednesday - Saturday, from 11:00 to 18:00.

Images:
‘Focus’, 7 x 5 in. (11 x 9 x .75 in. framed), Gouache and Wax Crayon on Black Paper, 2023
‘Refocus’, 10 x 8 x 2 in., Acrylic on Wood Panel, 2024
‘Auras’, 7 x 5 in. (11 x 9 x .75 in. framed), Gouache and Wax Crayon on Black Paper, 2023
‘Blue Aura’, 10 x 8 x 2 in., Acrylic on Wood Panel, 2024
‘Give it Time’, 7 x 5 in. (11 x 9 x .75 in. framed), Gouache and Wax Crayon on Black Paper, 2023
‘Scar Tissue’, 10 x 8 x 2 in., Acrylic on Wood Panel, 2024
‘Sutures’, 7 x 5 in. (11 x 9 x .75 in. framed), Gouache and Wax Crayon on Black Paper, 2023
‘River Twice’, 10 x 8 x 2 in., Acrylic on Wood Panel, 2024

02/16/2024

We are very excited that current exhibiting artist, Natessa Amin, is participating in the 2024 Wind Challenge Exhibition Series opening tonight from 6p to 8p!

Natessa’s exhibition “Feed the Moon” is on view at Commonweal through March 2nd!

Established in 1978 as The Challenge and now known as the Wind Challenge, Fleisher’s annual juried competition is committed to featuring the work of exceptional artists living in the Philadelphia region. Since its inception, the series has supported the careers of hundreds of emerging artists and introduced their work to thousands of visitors. The Wind Challenge Exhibition Series is made possible thanks to generous support from the Wind Foundation.

Image of Natessa Amin courtesy of Aaron Richter.
Images of Natessa’s works from the “Back To Square One” series on view as part of the Wind Challenge!

02/14/2024

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SAT•FEB•17 / 12:00 - 13:30
In Conversation: Natessa Amin & Daralyse Lyons

Join us at COMMONWEAL as Daralyse Lyons and Natessa Amin explore ‘Feed the Moon’ through a discussion of Amin’s transcultural upbringing and biracial identity, and how both have impacted her approach to meaning-making through the imagery she develops within her paintings.

Daralyse Lyons is a Biracial journalist, actor, and activist who has made it her mission to stand for a more integrated world. She is co-host of the On Being Biracial podcast, which amplifies the voices of multiethnic people of a variety of ages and experiences, centering their shared experiences as well as their inherent diversity. She has written and spoken extensively about all dimensions of diversity, and feels tremendous gratitude for the opportunity to use her seemingly disparate background as a catalyst for cross-cultural understanding.

Images:
Natessa Amin [photo courtesy of Aaron Richter]
Daralyse Lyons
Energy Itself, 10 x 8 x 2 in., Acrylic Paint on Wood Panel, 2024

02/13/2024

Some wonderful studio shots of current exhibiting artist Natessa Amin by Aaron Richter. Stop by COMMONWEAL this week to view and collect some wonderful works of contemporary painting from Amin’s ‘Feed the Moon’.

02/07/2024

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Join us this Saturday from 12:00 - 13:30 at COMMONWEAL as Dr. Roksana Filipowska and Natessa Amin explore ‘Feed the Moon’ through a discussion of the texts and ideas that acted as source materials for Amin in her construction of this body of work that engages regenerative processes and cycles of healing. This event will take place the day after the new moon and Lunar New Year, a wonderful time to think about relationships and change. Engaging with the exhibition title ‘Feed the Moon’, Dr. Filipowska will explore with Natessa issues of nourishment and finding sustenance through Amin’s lived experience of being an artist.

Roksana Filipowska, Ph.D., is researcher, educator and third-generation tarot reader working at the intersections of art, science and spirituality. She completed her doctorate in art history at the University of Pennsylvania and served as the inaugural Wurtele Study Center Manager at the Yale University Art Gallery. Filipowska developed Being Present with Art, a method for integrating mindfulness-based stress reduction meditation with art museum pedagogy and offers courses and retreats in this method. As an Art, Culture and Equity Consultant with Keen Independent Research, Filipowska advises cities and counties on developing sustainable support for local art, culture and creatives. Filipowska also teaches at the Barnes Foundation, where she recently offered the course Mysticism, Spirituality and Modern Art.

Images:
Natessa Amin [photo courtesy of Aaron Richter]
Dr. Roksanna Filipowska
Bounty, 10 x 8 x 2 in., Acrylic Paint and Mirrors on Wood Panel, 2024

02/03/2024

Natessa Amin, ‘Sweet Ritual’, 24 x 20 x 2 in., Acrylic on Wood Panel, 2024

On view in “Feed the Moon” at Commonweal through March 2nd.

01/25/2024

With the generous support of MPN Realty and the East Passyunk Business Improvement District, Feed the Moon co-curator Rebecca O’ Leary (Executive Director of the East Passyunk BID) has organized an exhibition of reproductions of Amin’s paintings in the windows of 1805 East Passyunk Avenue as part of a ‘Contemporary Art on the Avenue’ program.

Join us on Tuesday, January 30th from 17:00 to 19:00 as Amin shares her thoughts on the thematic and material approaches that went into developing her newest body of work while viewing this satellite exhibition. Afterwards, Stogie Joe’s Tavern will host a private happy hour for guests with wine, beer and square pies provided!

Image: Natessa Amin, ‘Labyrinth’, 30 x 40 x 2 in., Acrylic on Wood Panel, 2024

01/13/2024

In Natessa Amin’s exhibition ‘Feed the Moon’, opening at COMMONWEAL this Friday the 19th from 17:00 - 21:00, her imagery draws upon sources such as mystical philosophy and ecological and bodily cycles of change over time. To delve into her practice further, we took a moment to ask Amin if there were any visual artists or writers that dealt with similar concerns of synthesizing abstract experience with real world circumstances which she drew inspiration from in creating her newest body of work.

“In recent months, I’ve developed a deep fascination with the Spanish surrealist artist, Remedios Varo. Varo sought to unravel the mysteries beyond our ordinary perception of the world, translating these profound experiences into her art. Her unwavering belief in the transformative power of nature resonates with me.

I’m captivated by the enchanting worlds Varo crafted in her works. Further research unveiled shared concerns and inspirations, including a mutual fascination with magic, alchemy, and transformation. Additionally, we both share an interest in creating unique textures and surfaces in our art. Varo’s imagery, for me, illuminates the mystical potential inherent in painting—something I contemplate often in my artistic process.

Exploring Varo’s influences led me to the Russian mystic and philosopher, George Gurdjieff. This discovery inspired the title of my upcoming exhibition ‘Feed the Moon’. The title reflects Gurdjieff’s concept that Earth will eventually evolve into a new sun, and humans bear the mission of emotionally nurturing the moon to sustain organic life on Earth. Interestingly, both Varo and Gurdjieff expressed concerns about climate change as early as the 1930s, underscoring their shared foresight of environmental matters.”

Images:
1) Photograph of Natessa Amin courtesy of Aaron Richter.
2) Remedios Varo, Bordando el manto terrestre (Embroidering the Earth’s Mantle), 1961. © 2020 Estate of Remedios Varo / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Madrid. Courtesy of Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco.
3) Natessa Amin, Having Circled the Sky, Acrylic on Wood Panel, 24 x 20 x 2 in., 2023

01/04/2024

Save the Date!
Natessa Amin - Feed the Moon | FRI•DEC•19 / 17:00 - 21:00

COMMONWEAL is pleased to announce its first exhibition of 2024: Natessa Amin’s Feed the Moon, featuring over a dozen new paintings and works on paper. Join us for the opening celebration on Friday, January 19th from 17:00 - 21:00.

Feed the Moon addresses themes including memory, mysticism, ritual, and place through the lens of Amin’s transcultural identity — as a child of the Indian diaspora and her upbringing in Pennsylvania. Throughout her works she implements an ever-growing lexicon of evocative symbols alluding to notions of creation and destruction.

The exhibition takes its title from the writings of the mystic philosopher G.I. Gurdjieﬀ whose works embrace his syncretic approach to philosophy, bringing together Eastern and Western inﬂuences to develop new approaches to reconcile physical and spiritual wounds. The act of “feeding the moon” is a metaphor for self-revelation and consciousness raising, contending with and navigating personal trauma in order to find a place of equilibrium within ourselves and with others.

Having grown up with two parents in the medical ﬁeld, an awareness of the changes our bodies undergo were always present in Amin’s life. Physical scars became signifiers of transformation and the manifestation of bodily experience. In her works, Amin employs techniques similar to those used by medical professionals, such as masking, scraping, cauterizing and sculpting layers of paint. Like scar tissue, her paintings emphasize transition and growth that heal over remnants and residues of the past.

Feed the Moon is organized in partnership with (re)FOCUS 2024 at Moore College of Art & Design, by co-curators Alex Conner and Rebecca O’Leary. A selection of Amin’s works on view at COMMONWEAL will be reproduced in the windows of 1805 East Passyunk Avenue as part of a collaborative ‘Art on the Avenue’ exhibition hosted by the East Passyunk Business Improvement District and sponsored by MPN Realty.

Image above: Natessa Amin, ‘As Above So Below’, 40 x 30 x 2 in. (102 x 76 x 5 cm.), Acrylic Paint on Wooden Panel, 2023

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19122

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Thursday	10am - 7pm
Friday	11am - 7pm
Saturday	10am - 7pm
Sunday	10am - 7pm

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