A new cover story

Despite ALL the well-worn warnings preaching otherwise, how we imagine the world, feel and very worth of a book often has much to do with its cover. The book industry spends millions attempting its own game of clairvoyance, trying to predict what will push certain buttons; what will spur investment of not just money but time. However, what intuitively makes a book the right book, if one only has the cover to go by? What sort of imagery both piques interest and reflects discernment. (And what key elements are lost in the process?)

In a new exhibition, “Cover Version” now on view at the Taylor de Cordoba Gallery, New York-based multimedia artist Timothy Hull asked about 20 artists from around the country to pick a favorite book and create a new, idiosyncratic cover image for it. The only parameters: Each piece should be book-cover size and must include the author’s name and the book’s title as visual elements. Much in the same way musicians perform cover versions of songs, the artists were encouraged to be metaphorical or literal; to reinterpret or re-imagine the imagery to suit his or her own impressions, or even rethink it entirely to reflect what they see as the spirit of the book. Artists picked widely -- “To the Lighthouse” and “Moby-Dick,” “Breakfast of Champions” and “The Book of Mormon” among them. “Cover Version” is Hull’s first curatorial effort.

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-- Lynell George