Will Munro

1975–2010

William Grant “Will” Munro (1975–2010) was a Toronto artist, club promoter and community organizer. His work has a queer punk DIY aesthetic, and his influences included artists such as General Idea and the queercore movement.

Munro was born in Sydney, Australia and grew up in Mississauga, Ontario. He attended OCAD University, graduating in 2000. As a club promoter, he was best known for his long-running, punk-rock Toronto queer club, Vazaleen, often creating silkscreen posters to advertise the venue. Munro was also the co-owner, alongside Lynn McNeill, of the queer bar The Beaver, which closed in 2020 after 14 years of business. Inspired by performers he admired such as Leigh Bowery and Klaus Nomi, as a visual artist, Munro is known for creating artistic works out of underwear. Munro was also a skilled organizer who brought diverse communities together across the city.

After two years of living with brain cancer, Munro passed away in May 2010. He was named on the longlist of finalists for the Sobey Art Award in the same year. His work has been exhibited in galleries such as Art in General, in New York City, and Toronto galleries Zsa Zsa, Mercer Union, YYZ Artists’ Outlet, and Paul Petro Contemporary Art. Posthumous exhibitions of his artwork include a 2010 show at the Art Gallery of Ontario, and in 2011 he was the first male artist to be featured in La Centrale, a feminist art gallery in Montréal. In 2012, Art Gallery York University had a retrospective of Will’s work titled Will Munro: History, Glamour, Magic.

Artworks