Here is the biography of Robert Cowan:
Robert Cowan was born in Toronto in 1930. He attended Upper Canada College and later enrolled at the Ontario College of Art as a painter. After graduation, he spent a year studying in Paris and then returned to Toronto. He was convinced by his artist friend Bill Ronald to move to New York City, where he joined the New York underground film scene.
Cowan studied painting with Hans Hoffman and initially focused on the medium. However, he became more interested in film and attended lectures by Maya Deren. He was also inspired by the works of Stan Brakhage and began making his own films using a cheap 8mm camera.
Cowan acted in various films, including those by Ken Jacobs and Bob Fleischner. He also collaborated with Mike and George Kuchar on several films, including "Born of the Wind" and "The Craven Sluck". In "The Craven Sluck", Cowan played a dual role, and in "Color Me Shameless", he starred as a lonely and dysfunctional artist.
Cowan's film work did not provide him with a living, so he worked as a projectionist and light man to pay the rent. He worked at the Cinematheque, the screening space for the NY Filmmakers Co-op, and contributed a column on underground cinema to the mainstream Canadian film magazine Take One.
Cowan continued to work on films with Mike and George Kuchar into the 1970s and served on the board of directors at the New York Filmmakers Co-op and worked at the Millennium Film Workshop. He returned to Toronto in the late 1980s and served on the board of the Canadian Filmmakers Co-op, but found the experience unpleasant.
Cowan passed away on June 21, 2011, at his home in Toronto.
