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

[New York Close Up]

Being in the Whitney Biennial
is really interesting right now

because of my background as a
Latino queer artist.

[Ridgewood, Queens]

Essentially, I'm showing in
"the museum of American art"

and I'm from Mexican descent,

but, you know, what does that mean today?

And what that'll mean for tomorrow...

I don't know.

[Raúl de Nieves is an American Artist]

I'm listening to a lot of techno right now.

It's so that I can keep the momentum.

I never try to be a perfectionist
with my work.

I've always wanted to make stained glass,

and I feel like it's a little heavy, you know?

So this makes it lighter

and I can do it anywhere I want.

Sometimes my friends come over
and we, like, chill out.

[LAUGHS]

And they'll watch me cut
a bunch of paper together.

[LAUGHS]

I grew in Morelia, Michoacán.

Growing up in Mexico was really magical

because I got to see a lot of forms of celebration.

I got to experience death
as a really young child.

That's what my work is about:

it's like seeing the facets
of happiness and sadness

all in one place.

Color was such an embedded part of my life

that I always saw things
as bright as they could be.

The most interesting part about this
to me is

you can make something
out of the simplest things

and it can translate into a different reality.

Not knowing how it's going to turn out

is extremely exciting.

Because I'm just anticipating...

Um...

the day I get to put this up

and see what it does.

--Holy shit!

[SCREAMS]

--Hi guys.

--[ALL] Hi!

--How's it going?

Oh my god, this is so crazy!

[BREATHES OUT]

It really hits the wall!

Oh my god,

this is so cool.

[ALL LAUGH]

This is so cool!

[DE NIEVES SCREAMS]

--Okay, should we start moving these things...

--[MIA LOCKS] Yeah.

--[DE NIEVES] Okay, cool!

--So, I'm picturing the orange one...

My mom had already been
living in the United States

for about two months.

One day, my aunt came to pick us up from school,

and she said, "You're going to America.
Let's go."

And we got on a plane without a bag.

--This woman is supposed to go right here.

--She's kind of like going, like...

--Yeah, like this.

--[LOCKS] What would you like
the posture to be?

--[DE NIEVES] Well, I mean, I wish it was
a little bit more animated,

--because that looks so real with these, like,
hands in the air.

--But, I figured even if it could
just be like...

That day that I got into a plane,

knowing that I didn't have any belongings,

a lot of things went through my head.

I was obviously scared,

because I was nine years old
and couldn't speak English.

[Mia Locks, Curator]

But I knew that I would be able to survive.

And that I just have to trust

what ever life was going to bring me next.

--But,

--can a viewer come right here?

--Is that illegal?

--I mean...

Creating this narrative,

with all these figures and symbols--

just taking what I've learned from experiences

and being able to put it in one image--

is really important for me right now.

The first panel in the stained-glass mural

is of a person in sickness.

He is challenging his mentality

to turn from bad to good--

or is asking for help.

And then it trickles down to

a personal fight.

Defeat is really important.

It should be somewhat of a struggle to continue.

I think the fly is actually the core of life.

It's constantly watching--

you know, it's like a secret.

At the end, I want it to be
a celebration of life.

--[INTERVIEWER, OFF SCREEN] You're 33?

[DE NIEVES] I'm 33!

Yeah.

My dad died when he was 33.

My dad died when I was two years old,

but I feel like he's closer to me now than...

ever.

I mean, I don't know,

but his remembrance allows me to

keep going.

It feels more of a gift.

To me, it symbolizes my dad's spirit.

My grandfather.

My grandmother.

My own personal spirit.

It's a celebration of my mom's courage

to bring me to this country.

She had to do it for her and three other kids.

I always believed that the United States

was the land of all nations,

and I guess I'm starting to realize

that's not completely true.

The mural talks about this experience--

this journey.

I feel really happy that I could put
so much emphasis

on this idea of "a better tomorrow"
in my artwork.

The fact that there are so many
diverse groups in this exhibition

is really important.

And hopefully it reminds people that

this is 2017.

We don't want to go back in time--

we want to move forward.