Joyce Wieland
(1931 - 1998)
BiographyJoyce Wieland was a leading figure in the Toronto art scene of the 1960’s and 70’s and is largely considered one of the founders of Canadian experimental cinema. Wieland was born in Toronto in 1931. She studied at Central Technical School and later worked at Graphic Films, Toronto’s first private animation studio. In 1956, Wieland married Michael Snow and in 1960 held her first exhibition of paintings at the Isaacs Gallery. In 1962, Wieland and Snow moved to New York City, where they became immersed in a flourishing avant-garde film culture. The pair moved back to Toronto in 1972
Wieland’s films are diverse, mixing formal and political concerns, often with a sense of humor, and presented with a feminine sensibility. Rat Life and Diet in North America (1968) was her first film to move away from the formal nature of her early work and toward the political. A study of rats, played by her pet gerbils, the film contains a narrative in which the rats act as political prisoners who escape their American oppressors, played by Wieland's cats. The film is a political allegory that uses humour and absurdity to criticize American imperialism, with the rats fleeing to Canada to live happily as organic farmers until an invasion by the United States. |
FilmographyTea in the Garden (1956)
A Salt in the Park (1958) Larry's Recent Behaviour (1963) Peggy's Blue Skylight (1964) Patriotism 1 (1964) Patriotism 2 (1965) Water Sark (1965) Barbara's Blindness (1965) * 1933 (1967) Sailboat (1967) Cat Food (1967) Handtinting (1967) Rat Life and Diet in North America (1968) Dripping Water (1969) ** Reason Over Passion (1969) Pierre Vallieres (1972) Solidarity (1973) The Far Shore (1976) A&B in Ontario (1984) Birds at Sunrise (1986) * with Betty Ferguson ** with Michael Snow |