At Katherine Small Gallery, John Gall makes book covers into mini masterpieces

John Gall’s “Untitled” (2013) is at Katherine Small Gallery. (Image via the gallery)

John Gall, the creative director of Alfred A. Knopf, is known for designing book covers for authors such as Haruki Murakami and Margaret Atwood. In 2008, he decided to start making collages on the backs of book covers in an effort to “forget what he knew about design.”

The results are lovely. At Somerville’s Katherine Small Gallery, seven of Gall’s original collage works went on sale a few days ago, along with a limited-run unbound zine called “Jackets.”

In “Untitled (2013),” a silhouette of a man’s face seems to slide effortlessly down the page as his face is folded into sections of red and blue paper. “Untitled (2016)” and “Half Titled 003” are also stunning, making masterpieces out of abstract shapes. In “Jackets,” the artist toes the line between book and fine art object. Since the zine is unbound, viewers can shuffle and rearrange each collage, a visual choose-your-own-adventure.

Ranging from $500 to $1,000, the original collages are technically affordable for fine-art objects but well out of this writer’s price range. Luckily, copies of the “Jackets” zine are just $10. With this, K. Small offers up a way to sell art at an accessible price point. But with Gall’s work, you’ll need to get them before they’re gone.

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