Alum Gabriel Fowler Wants to Raise Awareness of "Artists Doing Creative Things”

Gabriel Fowler (MFA 2002) has been spotlighted in the New York Times "Neighborhood Joint" section in an article titled “The ‘Punk Rock’ Comic Book Shop.”  After moving to New York in 2004, Fowler felt a distinct lack of shops that catered to the alternative artistic community and opened the Desert Island comic shop in 2008. It has garnered a reputation as a go-to spot for visual works on paper, and has cultivated a dedicated group of customers-turned-artists who now sell their work in the shop on a “no restrictions consignment basis” the Times reports. “Many comb through Mr. Fowler’s passion, and the store’s specialty: zines and small-press booklets or books championing illustrations. People often stand around the store, noses buried in these publications, which might feature meditations on the human condition and pregnancy, satire of women’s magazines, or beautiful imagery printed without text.” In addition to supporting local and international creatives, Desert Island helps organize an annual fall festival, Comic Arts Brooklyn,  with the Pratt Institute.