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Raúl de Nieves is an American Artist | Art21 "New York Close Up"

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    [New York Close Up]
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    Being in the Whitney Biennial
    is really interesting right now
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    because of my background as a
    Latino queer artist.
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    [Ridgewood, Queens]
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    Essentially, I'm showing in
    "the museum of American art"
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    and I'm from Mexican descent,
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    but, you know, what does that mean today?
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    And what that'll mean for tomorrow...
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    I don't know.
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    [Raúl de Nieves is an American Artist]
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    I'm listening to a lot of techno right now.
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    It's so that I can keep the momentum.
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    I never try to be a perfectionist
    with my work.
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    I've always wanted to make stained glass,
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    and I feel like it's a little heavy, you know?
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    So this makes it lighter
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    and I can do it anywhere I want.
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    Sometimes my friends come over
    and we, like, chill out.
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    [LAUGHS]
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    And they'll watch me cut
    a bunch of paper together.
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    [LAUGHS]
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    I grew in Morelia, Michoacán.
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    Growing up in Mexico was really magical
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    because I got to see a lot of forms of celebration.
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    I got to experience death
    as a really young child.
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    That's what my work is about:
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    it's like seeing the facets
    of happiness and sadness
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    all in one place.
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    Color was such an embedded part of my life
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    that I always saw things
    as bright as they could be.
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    The most interesting part about this
    to me is
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    you can make something
    out of the simplest things
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    and it can translate into a different reality.
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    Not knowing how it's going to turn out
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    is extremely exciting.
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    Because I'm just anticipating...
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    Um...
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    the day I get to put this up
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    and see what it does.
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    --Holy shit!
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    [SCREAMS]
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    --Hi guys.
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    --[ALL] Hi!
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    --How's it going?
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    Oh my god, this is so crazy!
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    [BREATHES OUT]
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    It really hits the wall!
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    Oh my god,
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    this is so cool.
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    [ALL LAUGH]
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    This is so cool!
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    [DE NIEVES SCREAMS]
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    --Okay, should we start moving these things...
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    --[MIA LOCKS] Yeah.
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    --[DE NIEVES] Okay, cool!
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    --So, I'm picturing the orange one...
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    My mom had already been
    living in the United States
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    for about two months.
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    One day, my aunt came to pick us up from school,
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    and she said, "You're going to America.
    Let's go."
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    And we got on a plane without a bag.
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    --This woman is supposed to go right here.
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    --She's kind of like going, like...
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    --Yeah, like this.
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    --[LOCKS] What would you like
    the posture to be?
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    --[DE NIEVES] Well, I mean, I wish it was
    a little bit more animated,
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    --because that looks so real with these, like,
    hands in the air.
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    --But, I figured even if it could
    just be like...
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    That day that I got into a plane,
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    knowing that I didn't have any belongings,
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    a lot of things went through my head.
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    I was obviously scared,
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    because I was nine years old
    and couldn't speak English.
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    [Mia Locks, Curator]
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    But I knew that I would be able to survive.
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    And that I just have to trust
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    what ever life was going to bring me next.
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    --But,
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    --can a viewer come right here?
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    --Is that illegal?
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    --I mean...
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    Creating this narrative,
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    with all these figures and symbols--
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    just taking what I've learned from experiences
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    and being able to put it in one image--
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    is really important for me right now.
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    The first panel in the stained-glass mural
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    is of a person in sickness.
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    He is challenging his mentality
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    to turn from bad to good--
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    or is asking for help.
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    And then it trickles down to
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    a personal fight.
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    Defeat is really important.
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    It should be somewhat of a struggle to continue.
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    I think the fly is actually the core of life.
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    It's constantly watching--
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    you know, it's like a secret.
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    At the end, I want it to be
    a celebration of life.
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    --[INTERVIEWER, OFF SCREEN] You're 33?
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    [DE NIEVES] I'm 33!
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    Yeah.
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    My dad died when he was 33.
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    My dad died when I was two years old,
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    but I feel like he's closer to me now than...
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    ever.
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    I mean, I don't know,
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    but his remembrance allows me to
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    keep going.
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    It feels more of a gift.
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    To me, it symbolizes my dad's spirit.
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    My grandfather.
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    My grandmother.
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    My own personal spirit.
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    It's a celebration of my mom's courage
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    to bring me to this country.
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    She had to do it for her and three other kids.
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    I always believed that the United States
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    was the land of all nations,
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    and I guess I'm starting to realize
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    that's not completely true.
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    The mural talks about this experience--
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    this journey.
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    I feel really happy that I could put
    so much emphasis
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    on this idea of "a better tomorrow"
    in my artwork.
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    The fact that there are so many
    diverse groups in this exhibition
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    is really important.
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    And hopefully it reminds people that
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    this is 2017.
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    We don't want to go back in time--
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    we want to move forward.
Title:
Raúl de Nieves is an American Artist | Art21 "New York Close Up"
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Team:
Art21
Project:
"New York Close Up" series
Duration:
07:18

English subtitles

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