“I think that there’s a lot more fear than you would ever dream of. I keep going where I want to go, so I’m always free in what I’m doing. So I feel fearless about it. And that’s what I enjoy, it’s been my pleasure.“

“Fear is no friend to creativity.”  

“More and more I do what I want, and more and more I become what I’m supposed to be.”

(Joyce Wieland 1990)

Joyce Wieland was born in Toronto in 1931. She studied art at Central Technical School , Toronto , and after graduation worked in a commercial art house and then a film production company. In 1962 Joyce Wieland moved to New York with her then husband Michael Snow and became involved in the avante garde film scene. She made a number of films including Patriotism, Water Sark, and Rat Life and Diet In North America which dealt with issues of social, political and feminist content. These films established Wieland’s reputation in the underground film world of New York .

A contemporary of Painters Eleven, Joyce Wieland refused to fall in with what she considered to be a macho and hence limiting system of painting. She explored many methods and means of creating her work, often to the ridicule of the art establishment. She risked and received criticism for employing techniques such as embroidery and quilting, raising what was considered craft to the level of high art. She was the first woman to have a retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada.

Joyce Wieland received numerous commissions and awards including the Toronto Arts Award (1987), a Mayoral Reception in her honour (1987), YMCA Woman Of Distinction Award (1987), Ontario Arts Council Grants (1984, 1986, 1968, 1966), Officer Of The Order Of Canada (1983), Laidlaw Foundation Commission (1981/82), Bata Shoes Commission (1977), Toronto Transit Commission (1977), Canadian Film Awards (3) for “The Far Shore” (1976) and the National Science Library Commission (1975).

Joyce Wieland was a great Canadian artist and a pioneer in expanding the horizons of fine art. She passed away on Saturday June 27, 1998 .

The solo exhibitions of Joyce Wieland include Joyce Wieland: Early, Middle & Late Works Moore Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario (1990), Joyce Wieland Retrospective Canada House, London, England, traveling to Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh (1988), Joyce Wieland Retrospective Mackenzie Art Gallery, University of Regina, Saskatchewan (1988), Joyce Wieland Retrospective Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum, Charlottetown, P.E.I. (1987), Joyce Wieland Retrospective Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, N.B. (1987), Joyce Wieland Retrospective Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (1987), Joyce Wieland: A Decade Of Painting Concordia University, Montreal (1985), Isaacs Gallery, Toronto (1960, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1981, 1983, 1987), Yajima Galerie, Montreal (1982), Joyce Wieland:New Paintings Forest City Gallery, London, Ontario (traveling-1982), Pauline McGibbon Cultural Centre, Toronto (1979/80), Joyce Wieland: Drawings From “The Far Shore” National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (traveling 1978), Joyce Wieland: Independent Canadian Art Show University of Guelph Art Gallery, Guelph, Ontario (1972), True Patriot Love National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1971), Joyce Wieland Retrospective Glendon College Art Gallery, York University, Toronto (1969), Joyce Wieland Retrospective: 1957-1967 Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. (1968), 20/20 Gallery, London, Ontario (1966), Here and Now Gallery, Toronto (1960).

Her two person shows include Wieland and Meredith National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1967/68), Drawings by Michael Snow and Joyce Wieland Hart House Gallery, University of Toronto , Ontario (traveling 1962), Drawings of Michael Snow and Joyce Wieland Westdale Gallery, Hamilton , Ontario (1959), Gordon Rayner and Joyce Wieland Greenwich Gallery, Toronto (1959).

The group shows of Joyce Wieland are many. A small selection includes The Summer Show: Works By Gathie Falk, Liz Magor and Joyce Wieland Women In Focus Floating Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. (1987), Toronto Painting ‘84 Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (1984), Troisieme Biennale de Tapisserie de Montreal Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France (1984), Canada Mikrokisma: An Exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Tapestries Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston Ontario traveling to Crystal Palace, Madrid, Spain, Textile Museum Krefeld, Germany, Nord Gyllands Kuntsmuseum, Copenhagen, Denmark, major centres in Canada (1983-1985), Reflections: contemporary Art since 1964 National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1984), Edge and Image Concordia University Art Gallery, Montreal (1984), Hearts Hart House Gallery, University of Toronto, Ontario (1984), Toronto Painting of the 1960’s Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (1983), New Perceptions: Portraiture Art Gallery at Harbourfront, Toronto (1983), Toronto Women Artists/Three Decades Gallery Quan, Toronto (1983), Contemporary Outdoor Sculpture At The Guild Guild of all Arts, Toronto (1983), Twentieth Century Canadian Painting National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan (1981), Joyce Wieland and Judy Chicago Powerhouse Gallery, Montreal (1980), Modern Canadian Painting in Canada: A Survey of Major Movements In Twentieth Century Art Edmonton Art Gallery, Alberta (1978), Landscape Canada-Roots and Promise, Image and Symbol Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (traveling 1975-1977), Canadian Tapestries ‘77 Art Gallery of Ontario (traveling 1977), O Canada London Regional Art Gallery, London, Ontario (1976), First Dalhousie Drawing Exhibition Dalhousie University Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1976), Inaugural Exhibition National Museum of Man, Ottawa (1974), Comic Art Traditions National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1972), Eight Artists From Canada Tel-Aviv Museum, Israel (1970), Survey ‘70-Realism(e)s Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Art Gallery of Ontario (1970), The Wall Art For Architecture Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (traveling 1969), Canada 101 Edinburgh International Festival, Scotland (1968), Canada Art d’Aujourd’hui Musee National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France traveling to Rome, Lausanne, Brussels (1968), Centennial Exhibition Hudsons Galleries, Detroit Michigan (1967), Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan (1966), The Satirical In Art York University Art Gallery, Toronto (1966), Polychrome Construction: Dennis Burton, Donald Judd, Gordon Rayner, Michael Snow, David Weinrib, Joyce Wieland Isaacs Gallery, Toronto (1965), Sixth Biennial of Canadian Painting 1965 National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1965), Interim Works By Four Artists: Richard Gorman, Robert Markle, Michael Snow, Joyce Wieland Isaacs Gallery, Toronto (1965), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA (1964), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1962), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York (1962), 19 Canadian Painters 1962 J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky (1962), Dada: Burton, Coughtry, Curnoe, Gorman, Rayner, Snow, Wieland Isaacs Gallery, Toronto (1961/62), 12th Annual winter Exhibition Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario (1961), Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba (1960), 76th Annual Spring Exhibition Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Quebec (1959), Society of Co-Operative Artists (1957-1958), Gallery of Contemporary Art, Toronto (1957).

Her work can be found in many public, private and corporate collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario, Art Gallery at Yale University, Art Gallery at Princeton University, Right Honourable Pierre Trudeau, Phyllis Lambert, Dalhousie University Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Montreal Museum of fine Arts, Montreal, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba, Confederation Art Gallery, Charlottetown, P.E.I., Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Edmonton Art Gallery, Alberta, Art Gallery of Windsor, Ontario, McIntosh Art Gallery, London, Ontario, Canada Council Art Bank, the Gallery, Stratford, Ontario, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, New Brunswick, Art Gallery of Brant, Brantford, Ontario, MacDonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario, London Regional Art Gallery, London, Ontario.