Will Munro, 1975-2010

Will Munro
Untitled (underwear)
Courtesy Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto

For the past week, the Toronto arts community has been mourning the loss of Will Munro to brain cancer in the early morning of May 21. He was 35.

There have already been several tributes acknowledging Munro as the mastermind of the now-legendary Vaseline/Vazaleen club nights, the owner of the Beaver Café on Queen St. West (where the Magenta team met over delicious lamb burgers last summer to plan the re-launch of this magazine), and as a community builder and as a friend. But, here at Magenta, we wanted to acknowledge Munro's career as a visual artist.

Back in the mid-1990s through the early-2000s, Munro was an integral part of the creative ferment that was the queer Toronto art scene. Along with artists such as Scott Treleaven, Luis Jacob, Paul P., Allyson Mitchell and Peter Kingstone, and musicians like Gentleman Reg and The Hidden Cameras, Munro re-invented what "queer art" could be, and helped break down a lot of barriers in the process. His last exhibition, Inside the Solar Temple of the Cosmic Leather Daddy, at Paul Petro Contemporary Art in March of this year, occurred at the same time he was listed for the prestigious Sobey award.

This portfolio features a selection of Munro's underwear constructions, which we consider pivotal works in his far-too-short career. Hand-sewn by Munro from found fabrics and vintage rock t-shirts, they combine his punky, DIY aesthetic with fashion, sex and politics in an unapologetic, yet playful, way.

Thanks to Paul Petro Contemporary Art in Toronto for the images contained in this special artist's portfolio.