Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects is thrilled to announce an exhibition of work by Los Angeles based artist Mark Todd. Todd’s paintings of record covers on panel for imaginary musical acts trade in puns, googly eyes, and a little bit of nostalgia for browsing through racks and bins, picking music to listen to by visual cues.

The album covers Todd creates seem like they could be painted from life (and in fact painting covers from his own record collection was the initial genesis of this project), but a second look reveals that while the fonts and the musicians’ poses might feel familiar, there are some strange incongruities that just don’t feel quite true to life– like a song titled “Exquisite Tonsils” on an album titled Rusty Spurs Sings a Treasury of his Romantic Hits. Todd’s album covers are accompanied by ceramic sculptures of the records themselves. Like the paintings, the sculptures aren’t a perfect approximation of reality. The handmade, improvisational quality of Todd’s paintings and ceramics offer a convincing case for the pleasures of the tangible, analogue world.

Mark Todd (b. 1970, Las Vegas, NV) received a BFA from the Art Center College of Design in 1993. His recent exhibitions include “Don’t Go To Hell Without Saying Goodbye,” at the Webb Gallery in Waxahachie, TX; “Covered,” at LaLuz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA; and “With Open Eyes,” at Grafikens Hus, Mariefried, Sweden.