The age old proverb is easier said than done, when choosing a read who can’t be swayed by good cover art, the cover after all has the job of explaining thousands of words in an instant. Think of the classic covers that grace the jackets of thousands of books and the names of the truly great artists that have put their artwork to novels, creating iconic classic covers for these classic books, but is the book cover dying? With the advent of the iPad it’s now questionable how long the printed novel and its cover will be around, just like the album cover, it’ll be resigned to a thumbnail in iTunes.

StolenSpace in association with Penguin plan to celebrate the art of the book cover with a show titled ‘ Never Judge? this December.

The broad and varied spectrum of artists were inviting to paint, print, etch, sculpt, photograph, whatever their medium, whatever their style… create a book cover for a novel of their choice, a book that has inspired them, a book that has had a profound impact on them or a book that they remember fondly as a child … all that we asked was that they create their original artwork to the traditional format and size of a Penguin book 198mm (h) x 129mm (w)

For this exhibition ‘Never Judge?’ we will be exhibiting these artworks and fill the gallery with original book covers from our favourite artists from around the world. As well as originals we will be producing limited edition prints of a selection of the artwork. The show promises to be a visual feast and working in conjunction with Penguin and their upcoming Penguin Essentials project the show will be a guaranteed block buster.