Toronto is getting a sticker museum
In case you didn't know, Toronto is home to the biggest sticker store in the world. In a few days, it'll be home to a sticker museum, too.
StickerYou, the Queen West store that has over 1,000 different stickers, is opening a massive installation that will take you through a surprisingly fascinating history of glue-plus-paper.
Stickers: RePEELed, which has been in the works for over a year, launches on Thursday, January 30 in the store basement at 677 Queen Street West.
You'll be able to follow the sticker journey, from the UK postal system in the 1800s all the way to adhesive art's role in graffiti to your childhood sticker books.
"Stickers reach back to that part in your childhood when you were like, open and innocent and free," says co-curator Dave Combs. "And whenever we see stickers as an adult, it transports us back that time and we can relate to one another in a different way."
Dave and co-curator Holly Combs are former editors of the now-folded PEEL, a magazine which was dedicated to all things sticker-, stencil-, and street art-related between 2003 and 2008.
The exhibit will be divdided in to two sections: the museum, which traces back to early history, and a more modern section featuring stickers from the 80s and 90s.
Stickers from over 200 artists, including some Toronto-based makers like Rodger Beck, will be on display indefinitely at the museum.
You'll also see works from legends like Shepard Fairey, the iconic artist behind the Obey Giant stickers and Obama's "Hope" art.
StickerYou, which opened up last year, is pretty easy to spot, with its multi-floor thunderbolt exterior and an interior that's been completely photobombed. The store definitely makes a statement, which I guess is the whole point of stickers anway.
"It's a method of reclaiming public space," says Combs. "The politcal aspect of it is saying, 'I'm here, I'm making my mark.'"
