ARCHIPELAGO A COMMUNITY OF DRAWINGS BY ZACH PEARL February 22-March 1, 2009 An archipelago (pronounced /ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ/) is defined as being a chain or cluster of islands. They are usually found in the open sea, isolated from larger landmasses, and their formations are odd and intricate. Collectively, the islands of an archipelago record a moment in history; an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, a rising sea. All factors to which they owe their existence. Individually, the islands are fragments. Pieces to a larger puzzle that tells the entirety of their story. In this way, the islands are a community, an identity that is interdependent, sharing a common origin while living and growing together. Zach Pearl In his new body of work, Zach Pearl develops these concepts of the archipelago and of community through his drawings. Highly-designed, highly-detailed, and above all surreal. Pearl’s Archipelago series is made up of 18 “portraits”. These portraits are of fictional characters, faces and creatures emerging from islands that float in an eerily calm ocean of white space. These portraits, Pearl describes as, “…partly autobiographical…facets of his own self. And his experiences as a current 20-something”. Perfectly suspended between the carefree nature of his teenage years [...]