The filmmaker Karen Aqua, who died in May at 57, had a profound impact on Boston’s independent, animation, and experimental film community. Her prolific and influential career is celebrated today at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Starting at 3 p.m., the museum presents a tribute that includes screenings of 10 of Aqua’s animated short films, from her early work in 1980 to segments she created for “Sesame Street’’ with her husband and frequent collaborator, Ken Field. Field will introduce the shorts and will be joined by the acclaimed filmmaker Frank Mouris, whose visit to the Rhode Island School of Design inspired then-student Aqua to switch to animation from a career as an illustrator, says Field. Amy Kravitz, a RISD filmmaker and professor, will also be on hand to discuss Aqua’s work and continued influence.
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Field says he worked closely with curator Branka Bogdanov, the ICA’s director of film and video, on the retrospective, which includes only some of Aqua’s oeuvre and is suitable for all ages. “We wanted to provide historical context and show how Karen’s work fits into the ongoing development of the art form,’’ says Field. “I hope to provide some insight into Karen’s process and thinking. I feel it’s my duty - not duty in any negative sense, but a duty to make sure her work doesn’t just sit on a shelf.’’
Aqua kept the ICA informed about new and emerging animated filmmakers, says Bogdanov, who relied on her “persistence’’ when programming the ICA’s biannual New England Animated Film Festival. Bogdanov remembers how Field brought Aqua onstage directly from the hospital in a wheelchair when the ICA showed her last film, “ Taxonomy,’’ which she finished just weeks before she died. “Karen’s life and art are inseparable,’’ says Bogdanov. “Her life is in all her films, from her love of music and dance to ‘ Twist of Fate,’ about being diagnosed with cancer, to ‘Taxonomy,’ which brings a number of concepts into powerful, beautiful visuals,’’ says Bogdanov. “It’s life to art and art to life; that’s one of her many fine qualities.’’
For more information, call 617-478-3103 or go to www.icaboston.org.