Join filmmaker Munro Ferguson in conversation with the AGO's Julian Cox about the films of Canadian experimental filmmaker Betty Ferguson. Betty Ferguson described her hour-long found footage collage film, Kisses (1976) as “a humorous dadaistic study of The Kiss in film.” Kisses examines iconic images through footage taken from feature films, newsreels, and old television series, and was screened at the legendary Manhattan night club Studio 54.

Born in 1933, Betty Ferguson has produced a series of experimental films which playfully explore the use of found footage and montage. Fellow artists and friends Joyce Wieland and Shirley Clarke were key influences in shaping her interest in and approach to film in the 1960s and ‘70s. In addition to Kisses, Ferguson’s works include: Barbara’s Blindness (1965), made in collaboration with Joyce Wieland, The Telephone Film (1972) and Airplane Film (1973). Ferguson currently lives in Montreal. Her films are distributed by CFMDC.

Born in New York City in 1960, Munro Ferguson studied painting and drawing at Banff and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. In 1984 Munro created Eureka!, a comic strip about science which was syndicated in over 30 newspapers internationally. In 1994, he joined the National Film Board English Program’s Animation Studio, where he wrote, directed and animated numerous films including Falling in Love Again, winner of the 2004 Genie Award for Best Animated Short. He has also created virtual reality experiences, dome films and a stereoscopic immersive installation, June, an elegy for his close friend and mentor, artist Joyce June Wieland.

Julian Cox joined the AGO as Deputy Director & Chief Curator in 2018. He leads the curatorial team in designing meaningful art experiences that embrace multiple—and often challenging—points of view. He focuses on exhibition planning in addition to developing the AGO’s significant collections, positioning Toronto and Ontario’s rich artistic landscape in the widest context possible to ensure the Gallery is inclusive and welcoming, and reflects the diversity of the communities we serve. Before joining the AGO, Julian was Chief Curator of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), working across two museums, the de Young and the Legion of Honor.