WEBVTT 00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:08.480 [New York Close Up] 00:00:09.260 --> 00:00:12.860 Being in the Whitney Biennial is really interesting right now 00:00:12.860 --> 00:00:17.380 because of my background as a Latino queer artist. 00:00:18.220 --> 00:00:19.080 [Ridgewood, Queens] 00:00:19.080 --> 00:00:22.620 Essentially, I'm showing in "the museum of American art" 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:24.920 and I'm from Mexican descent, 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.740 but, you know, what does that mean today? 00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:30.760 And what that'll mean for tomorrow... 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:32.140 I don't know. 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:37.160 [Raúl de Nieves is an American Artist] 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:43.300 I'm listening to a lot of techno right now. 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:46.420 It's so that I can keep the momentum. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:53.400 I never try to be a perfectionist with my work. 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:57.320 I've always wanted to make stained glass, 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:01.290 and I feel like it's a little heavy, you know? 00:01:01.800 --> 00:01:03.860 So this makes it lighter 00:01:03.860 --> 00:01:05.920 and I can do it anywhere I want. 00:01:13.720 --> 00:01:17.380 Sometimes my friends come over and we, like, chill out. 00:01:17.380 --> 00:01:18.560 [LAUGHS] 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:21.870 And they'll watch me cut a bunch of paper together. 00:01:21.870 --> 00:01:22.860 [LAUGHS] 00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:25.600 I grew in Morelia, Michoacán. 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:28.610 Growing up in Mexico was really magical 00:01:28.610 --> 00:01:33.520 because I got to see a lot of forms of celebration. 00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:36.520 I got to experience death as a really young child. 00:01:37.320 --> 00:01:38.580 That's what my work is about: 00:01:38.590 --> 00:01:41.280 it's like seeing the facets of happiness and sadness 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:42.580 all in one place. 00:01:43.720 --> 00:01:45.960 Color was such an embedded part of my life 00:01:45.960 --> 00:01:49.620 that I always saw things as bright as they could be. 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:57.940 The most interesting part about this to me is 00:01:57.940 --> 00:02:00.690 you can make something out of the simplest things 00:02:00.690 --> 00:02:03.560 and it can translate into a different reality. 00:02:05.220 --> 00:02:08.940 Not knowing how it's going to turn out 00:02:08.940 --> 00:02:11.320 is extremely exciting. 00:02:11.320 --> 00:02:13.620 Because I'm just anticipating... 00:02:14.040 --> 00:02:14.640 Um... 00:02:15.540 --> 00:02:17.880 the day I get to put this up 00:02:18.500 --> 00:02:19.520 and see what it does. 00:02:23.920 --> 00:02:25.060 --Holy shit! 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:26.520 [SCREAMS] 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:28.780 --Hi guys. 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:29.840 --[ALL] Hi! 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:31.080 --How's it going? 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:33.320 Oh my god, this is so crazy! 00:02:34.860 --> 00:02:36.000 [BREATHES OUT] 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.180 It really hits the wall! 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:40.800 Oh my god, 00:02:41.160 --> 00:02:42.000 this is so cool. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:42.800 [ALL LAUGH] 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:43.980 This is so cool! 00:02:44.640 --> 00:02:45.640 [DE NIEVES SCREAMS] 00:02:45.640 --> 00:02:48.460 --Okay, should we start moving these things... 00:02:48.460 --> 00:02:49.060 --[MIA LOCKS] Yeah. 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:50.020 --[DE NIEVES] Okay, cool! 00:02:50.940 --> 00:02:55.600 --So, I'm picturing the orange one... 00:02:55.610 --> 00:02:59.600 My mom had already been living in the United States 00:02:59.600 --> 00:03:01.680 for about two months. 00:03:03.040 --> 00:03:07.840 One day, my aunt came to pick us up from school, 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.900 and she said, "You're going to America. Let's go." 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:12.760 And we got on a plane without a bag. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:16.480 --This woman is supposed to go right here. 00:03:16.820 --> 00:03:18.360 --She's kind of like going, like... 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:20.660 --Yeah, like this. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:24.040 --[LOCKS] What would you like the posture to be? 00:03:24.440 --> 00:03:27.040 --[DE NIEVES] Well, I mean, I wish it was a little bit more animated, 00:03:27.040 --> 00:03:30.100 --because that looks so real with these, like, hands in the air. 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:33.820 --But, I figured even if it could just be like... 00:03:36.440 --> 00:03:38.800 That day that I got into a plane, 00:03:38.820 --> 00:03:41.760 knowing that I didn't have any belongings, 00:03:42.200 --> 00:03:44.960 a lot of things went through my head. 00:03:45.600 --> 00:03:47.220 I was obviously scared, 00:03:47.220 --> 00:03:49.640 because I was nine years old and couldn't speak English. 00:03:49.640 --> 00:03:51.000 [Mia Locks, Curator] 00:03:52.180 --> 00:03:55.660 But I knew that I would be able to survive. 00:03:55.980 --> 00:03:57.500 And that I just have to trust 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.540 what ever life was going to bring me next. 00:04:05.640 --> 00:04:06.500 --But, 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:10.900 --can a viewer come right here? 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:12.200 --Is that illegal? 00:04:12.220 --> 00:04:12.980 --I mean... 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:22.000 Creating this narrative, 00:04:22.009 --> 00:04:24.100 with all these figures and symbols-- 00:04:24.100 --> 00:04:26.800 just taking what I've learned from experiences 00:04:27.449 --> 00:04:30.120 and being able to put it in one image-- 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:32.200 is really important for me right now. 00:04:35.550 --> 00:04:39.080 The first panel in the stained-glass mural 00:04:39.090 --> 00:04:42.680 is of a person in sickness. 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:46.969 He is challenging his mentality 00:04:46.969 --> 00:04:49.190 to turn from bad to good-- 00:04:49.190 --> 00:04:51.930 or is asking for help. 00:04:51.930 --> 00:04:54.189 And then it trickles down to 00:04:54.189 --> 00:04:55.820 a personal fight. 00:04:56.540 --> 00:04:58.360 Defeat is really important. 00:04:59.400 --> 00:05:03.960 It should be somewhat of a struggle to continue. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:11.500 I think the fly is actually the core of life. 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:14.080 It's constantly watching-- 00:05:14.100 --> 00:05:15.820 you know, it's like a secret. 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:22.400 At the end, I want it to be a celebration of life. 00:05:24.700 --> 00:05:26.320 --[INTERVIEWER, OFF SCREEN] You're 33? 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:27.860 [DE NIEVES] I'm 33! 00:05:28.460 --> 00:05:29.040 Yeah. 00:05:32.340 --> 00:05:34.200 My dad died when he was 33. 00:05:36.590 --> 00:05:38.180 My dad died when I was two years old, 00:05:38.180 --> 00:05:41.740 but I feel like he's closer to me now than... 00:05:43.140 --> 00:05:44.140 ever. 00:05:44.140 --> 00:05:45.240 I mean, I don't know, 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:49.760 but his remembrance allows me to 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:51.480 keep going. 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:54.100 It feels more of a gift. 00:05:55.180 --> 00:05:58.460 To me, it symbolizes my dad's spirit. 00:05:58.470 --> 00:06:00.000 My grandfather. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.539 My grandmother. 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:02.900 My own personal spirit. 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:05.700 It's a celebration of my mom's courage 00:06:05.700 --> 00:06:07.420 to bring me to this country. 00:06:07.840 --> 00:06:10.620 She had to do it for her and three other kids. 00:06:12.980 --> 00:06:16.560 I always believed that the United States 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:19.400 was the land of all nations, 00:06:19.780 --> 00:06:22.400 and I guess I'm starting to realize 00:06:22.400 --> 00:06:24.380 that's not completely true. 00:06:28.320 --> 00:06:30.960 The mural talks about this experience-- 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:32.840 this journey. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:37.440 I feel really happy that I could put so much emphasis 00:06:37.440 --> 00:06:42.560 on this idea of "a better tomorrow" in my artwork. 00:06:43.569 --> 00:06:47.339 The fact that there are so many diverse groups in this exhibition 00:06:47.339 --> 00:06:49.279 is really important. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:51.620 And hopefully it reminds people that 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:53.580 this is 2017. 00:06:53.980 --> 00:06:55.560 We don't want to go back in time-- 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:57.200 we want to move forward.