TORONTO -- Toronto art lovers can leave their own sticky stamp on a Douglas Coupland sculpture by applying their chewed wads of gum to an unlikely canvas: his head.

Gumhead, a sculptural self-portrait of the acclaimed artist and author, is more than two-metres-tall and weighs more than half a ton.

Originally commissioned by the Vancouver Art Gallery, it was displayed outside of its doors on Howe Street last year. In conjunction, the gallery also played host to "Douglas Coupland: everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything," which it billed as the first major survey exhibition of Coupland's work.

Over the course of the summer, Gumhead evolved from a blank, black canvas to a crowd-sourced artistic work with colourful, goopy globs of gum affixed to the surface.

"It really worked way better than I thought it would," Coupland said in an interview in Toronto.

"People really attached to it emotionally, and that's always the best thing with any work. Once they put the gum on, it became their piece.

"I think a lot of public art can be very alienating and very cold, and unless you have an art education you have no idea what you're even doing. So, this is sort of the opposite of all of that."

Gumhead recently arrived at the Holt Renfrew Men store in downtown Toronto with a freshly scrubbed facade, and will be displayed at the Bloor Street West store through March 9. Holt Renfrew's flagship location in downtown Toronto will also feature Coupland-inspired designs across its storefront windows, and the luxury retailer's Yorkdale location will celebrate the artist's "Slogans for the 21st Century" on video screens flanking its main entrance.

In a collaborative first between the Royal Ontario Museum and Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, both will be playing host to "Douglas Coupland: everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything" beginning on Jan. 31.

Ann Webb, managing director of ROM Contemporary Culture, said Gumhead brings an interesting perspective on monuments and their representation in public life.

"If you were to see it without the gum on it ... it looks very beautiful, it's highly polished," said Webb.

"A sculpture like this would probably sit, perhaps, in a central town square or some place of historical significance. And I think he's really playing with ideas of this history of monuments, and he's kind of throwing that on its head -- literally.

"Also, by using his own face, it's a self-portrait. We often talk about the artist and the artist's hand. And here, he's asking the visitor to use their hands by taking gum and putting it on the sculpture and leaving their mark literally on the artist's face."

For the Coupland exhibit, Webb said more than 100 works of art divided into six themes will be spread across both museums, featuring everything from Lego to found materials.

A section dubbed "The Brain" features some 5,000 objects Coupland has amassed over the years, and is described as a metaphor for the complex ways in which the brain functions.

"Doug deals with elements of Canadian cultural identity, technology's impact on humanity, he deals with our 21st-century position and different issues that we're all facing today in the world, and ideas of utopia and dystopia. So it's really relevant to our current times," said Webb.

As for Gumhead, Coupland said he would love the public art piece to one day find a permanent home.

"Right now, it's just seeing the world."

"Douglas Coupland: everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything" will be on display at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art through April 19, and at the Royal Ontario Museum through April 26.