Ross McLaren (1953 – 2023) was a Canadian artist, filmmaker, and educator 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 was a faculty member at Cooper Union, Fordham University and Pratt Institute, and also taught at Millennium Film Workshop in New York City. Following a stroke in July 2023, McLaren died in Brooklyn, New York on November 28, 2023.

Work

Advocacy

Beginning in 1976, McLaren 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 the Ontario and Canada Council awards, McLaren's works have been shown 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

Academic appointments

Selected awards and distinctions

References and sources