Also, if anyone knows how to remove Images, Video, Performer Store, Podcasts, Playlists, etc from the left menu I'd be really interested in learning.
You can turn off lots of stuff you don't want to see, but not all, under "Options>General>Features". Certainly Image, Video, Television, Podcasts, Notes, the Start page, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
You can also view just audio functions by selecting "Audio Only Mode" under the View menu at the top of MC.
Then you can turn of "Performer Store" and other online stores under "Options>Services>Stores Shown in the tree".
I don't know why you would want to turn off Playlists, since it is pretty fundamental to how most people play music. But I don't think you can do that anyway. I don't think you can turn off "Drive & Devices" or "Services & Plug-ins" either.
As to your display issue, could you post a screenshot of the way you have the MC interface set up, so we can see what you are doing, and which image you want to enlarge. I'm not quite understanding the image you are trying to enlarge. I assume it is the display in the Action Window at the bottom left, but Cover Art is only displayed there when a track is playing, and not while "flipping through" the list of tracks. It is easy to see larger Cover Art images as you move through the list of Albums and Tracks, so maybe someone will be able to suggest a layout that suits you better, if you show us how you want it.
It may be as simple as using "Cover View" (Ctrl-5) will meet your needs. Take a look at the attached image showing one layout of Cover View. But do post an image of what you are doing as well.