Re-Writing the Streets 2.0: The International Language of Stickers

In the last 40 years, street art has evolved dramatically from the aerosol and painted mural graffiti that peppered subway stations and train yards, which was typically seen as vandalism. Today, new forms of visual communication are created in public spaces, often attracting viewers in more contemplative or interactive ways. Street art stickers have emerged as a provocative vehicle for self-expression and an effective way to engage passersby. Stickers may be used to “tag” a space, to sell products or services, to publicize social media sites, or to offer social commentary. As one of the most democratic art forms, stickers can be hand-drawn or printed, and are distributed quickly, cheaply, and widely. Stickers are “hidden in plain sight.” In an urban setting dominated by commercial advertising, publicly placed stickers, by their very presence, re-write the streets and produce what curator Nato Thompson calls elsewhere “creative disruptions of everyday life.” Representing a diverse array of voices and perspectives, stickers offer an alternative to a commercial advertising and corporate logos. And although ephemeral by nature, stickers capture the creative, cultural, and political pulse of time and place. Incorporating the finest examples from two collectors, Oliver Baudach in Germany and Catherine Tedford in the United States, the exhibition includes over 900 original, unused stickers grouped by artists, themes, dates, and geographic locations. Oliver Baudach is the founder and director of Hatch Kingdom, the world’s first museum devoted to sticker art, and is a leading expert in the field. His international collection numbers over 30,000 stickers spanning genres from character design to skateboarding, streetwear, and music. Catherine Tedford, gallery director at St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York, has been collecting stickers since 2003, and her collection numbers over 15,000 stickers from around the world. She writes about contemporary and historical political stickers on her research blog Stickerkitty. Courtesy of St. Lawrence University (Canton, New York) and Hatch Kingdom Sticker Museum (Berlin, Germany).