Ross McLaren is a Canadian artist and filmmaker based in New York City.
Biography
McLaren was born in 1953 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and graduated with honors from Ontario College of Art, where he also did post-graduate work. He is faculty at Cooper Union, Fordham University and Pratt Institute, and also taught at Millennium Film Workshop in New York City.
Work
Advocacy
Since 1976, McLaren has worked as a filmmaker, scholar, teacher, curator, critic, and community organizer. He founded and was first director of the Funnel Film Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, an institution devoted to the production, exhibition, and distribution of film. As founder/director, McLaren encouraged continued recognition of film—particularly Super 8—in his native country.
Films
His films include: Crash 'n' Burn: the "self-destructive document of Toronto’s eponymous punk club," Wave, Weather Building, Dance of the Sacred Foundation Application (feat. Jack Smith), Sex Without Glasses, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival award-winning sensation Summer Camp.
A recipient of such prestigious grants as Ontario and Canada Council awards, McLaren has shown his works worldwide. His films screened at MoMA, Anthology Film Archives, the Menil Collection, the National Film Theatre in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Biennale du Paris, Documenta VI, Jyväskylä University in Finland, and ARKEN Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. His work, which was presented in such esteemed venues as the Edinburgh, Toronto, and Oberhausen Film Festivals, is found in several permanent collections, including that of the American Federation of Arts, New York, the Arts Council of Great Britain, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ottawa’s National Film Archives and the National Gallery of Canada.
Selected filmography
Winning, 40 min (2005) Wave, 5 min. (2004) Dance of the Sacred Foundation Application (feat. Jack Smith), 15 min. (2003) Lapland, 3 min. (2002) Muted Horn, Squeaky Stool, 9:11 min. (2001) Another Story, S-8, 5 min. (1988) Spin, 16mm, 1 min. (1987) Warehouse Eyes, S-8 & 16mm, 13 min. (1986) Tilt, S-8, 3 min. (1985) Let's Run Amok, S-8, 3 min. (1984) Sex Without Glasses, 16mm 12:30 min. (1983) Calgary Girls, S-8, 5 min. (1983) Launch 5ive, S-8, 2:38 min. (1982) 9 X 12, 16mm, 1 min., (also microfiche insert for Impulse Magazine) (1979–81) Wednesday, January 17, 1979, 16mm, 4:40 min. (1979) Snorkel, 16mm. 10:10 min. (1976–79) Summer Camp, 16mm, 60 min. (1978) Crash 'n' Burn, 16mm, 27:45 (1977) I.E., 16mm, 14:45 min. (1976) Weather Building, 16mm, 10:15 min. (1976) (features weather beacon on the Canada Life Building) Baby Green, S-8, 10:15 min. (1974)
Academic appointments
Ontario College of Art, Toronto
The Funnel Film Theatre, Toronto
Fanshawe College, Fine Arts Dep’t., London
The Cooper Union School of Art, New York
Millennium Film Workshop, New York
Fordham University: College at Lincoln Center, New York
Koulu Lapland, Finland
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn
Selected awards and distinctions
Albert Frank Toronto - Amsterdam Artist's Award
Ann Arbor Film Festival Award (multiple) Black Maria Film Festival - Director's Citation Canada Council Grant, London Film Festival Canada Council Film Production Grant Ontario Arts Council Film Production Grant Ontario Arts Council Visual Arts Grant Parabola Arts Foundation Film Distribution Project