Open AccessSticky: The Vazaleen Posters
Author(s) -
Mark Clintberg
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
papers of the bibliographical society of canada
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2562-8941
pISSN - 0067-6896
DOI - 10.33137/pbsc.v57i0.32901
Subject(s) - queer , heterotopia (medicine) , semiotics , art , michel foucault , art history , queer theory , visual arts , sociology , media studies , gender studies , philosophy , law , political science , politics , linguistics , medicine , pathology
Vazaleen was a monthly serial queer party in Toronto founded by artist and promoter Will Munro (1975-2010) in 2000. Munro commissioned Toronto-based artist Michael Comeau (1975-) to create many silkscreen poster advertisements for these parties. His designs include an array of typographic treatments, references to popular culture and queer icons, and vibrant colour schemes. This article discusses these posters in relationship to Michel Foucault’s theory of the heterotopia, Roland Barthes’ semiotic analysis of advertising, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s writing on camp.