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

The 2025 blockbuster edition of Re-Writing the Streets: The International Language of Stickers 2.0 expands upon the 2015 exhibition of the same title by more than fivefold, featuring a dizzying array of adhesive-based ephemera from two of the world’s largest collections. Over 5,000 original, unused stickers in 100 frames are grouped by artists, dates, geographic locations, and subjects, including urban art, skateboard culture, character design, street wear, and tagging. Sociopolitical stickers in the exhibition address gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, nature and the environment, urban development, antifascism, capitalism and the economy, war and conflict, technology and surveillance, police reform, and other topics.

“Culture jamming” stickers figure prominently in the exhibition, in which artists play with corporate logos and references from popular culture to subvert their original meanings. Such stickers often go viral as memes or what sticker icon Shepard Fairey calls “bootlegs,” both in real life and online. Interpretive text panels, artists’ statements, zines, and photographs of stickers on the streets are also included in the exhibition.

For exhibition schedule and fees, contact Catherine Tedford at ctedford@stlawu.edu or 315 229-5174.

Categories: Traveling Exhibitions