If two art fiends ransacked first an eccentric granny's cottage and then her bohemian grandkids' art studio, and lovingly filled a city shop with the spoils, this is what it might look like: Art History, a stash box co-owned by curator Katharine Mulherin and artist Niki Boghossian. "We wanted to celebrate art without the formality of a gallery, and to recontextualize these weird hand made objects that we love so much," says Boghossian, grinning and gesturing toward an imperfectly painted ceramic owl.

SHOP HERE FOR: Old-school scholastic-themed items – retro cafeteria mugs, photocopied ninth grade notes – and kitschy kitchenware, such as clown-shaped cookie pots. There are also spindly legged chairs and service carts, pulpy 1960s paperbacks and milk glass ceramics. Vintage amateur craft projects provide the perfect foil for contemporary objets d’art, like local artist Tara Bursey’s darkly comic ceramic fingers.

BEST BETS: Surefire conversation starters like hand-painted wooden rifles by artist Jonny Petersen ($75), ballpoint pen-and-ink Woman Under the Influence zines ($3) and prints by Montreal’s Shawn Kuruneru ($350).

By Brooke Lockyer

Photos by Finn O'Hara

Art History

1080 Queen St W (Map It)
416 659 6454
THU & FRI 12-7, SAT 11-6, SUN 1-5

Neighbourhood:

West End

Also listed under:

Design accessories
Furniture - vintage & reclaim