Todd Magill
Paper Ink Bookcloth
Book/Shop
485 9th St.
Oakland
The smallest bits caught my eye first. Well, that’s not fair — the tray of $5 books out front really got me. But once I was inside Book/Shop, a painfully sweet space in Old Oakland, it was the smallest pieces, arranged in a grid of 16 set in dark wood frames, that got me going. At just 6x6 inches each, they are mounted closely in those darkened walnut floating frames, and they create a mesmerizing whole.
Created in collaboration with the shop itself, these paintings, and the larger ones next to them, are by Todd Magill and form the series Paper Ink Bookcloth. Each square canvas represents a hardcover book, as viewed from the side, simplified, enhanced, abstracted.
Citing the similarities in the exterior of so many volumes, the shop’s website states that the paintings create for viewers “beautiful geometric abstractions from these patterns of commonality/divergence.” The artist’s shares his wider aesthetic. “Inspired by the California modern movement of the 1960’s of abstract style that combines the clear composition of the unitary forms of Color Field Painting, Todd utilizes stretched cotton canvas with matte emulsion paints to create calculated and precise color studies.”
These ultra precise lines and thoughtfully chosen color scapes rendered matte do indeed evoke a sturdy, well-made book, at least once you’re told they do. Each of the three sets in the series has a different composition of lines, color blocking, and blank space (pages), and the repetition within each is super pleasing. I found a strong presence for Series 1 & 3, their colors contained nicely to edges, their nearly inverse proportions of color-to-white ratio sitting just right in my eyes. Series 2 ain’t nothing to scoff at, but the palette — all muted tones, none of the bright jewel cobalt or poppy— contained none of the lightness and joy I felt from the others. Their composition, so bottom heavy, and the tightness of the arrangement on the wall, was a tad claustrophobic, so far from the luminescent glow of #3.
In a phrase— go buy books in person and find fun, nerdy art along the way. You’ll be glad you did.
