Welcome to the opening
day of 2020 Vision.
I'm David Kratz.
I'm the president of the
New York Academy of Art.
And I'm Stephanie Roach,
the director of the FLAG Art
Foundation.
2020 Vision is a show
that grew organically
in reaction to the times.
We started with an examination
of the pandemic's effect
on society.
How it would change us, what
we would want to retain,
what we would guard against.
And then something
else major happened.
The murder of George Floyd.
We realized that we had to
include both of these events
in the show, as they were
events that would forever
change our world.
We asked artists, writers,
and creative thinkers
to consider three questions
of critical importance.
Our lives will
never be the same,
but what will change look like?
What do we want to
keep as we rebuild?
And what must we guard against?
We ended up with 42 visual
artists and 18 writers.
I think as curators,
our job in this case
was to listen to the
artists and to the writers,
and allow their perspectives
to be put out into the world
so that viewers could
really listen and learn.
2020 is definitely
a test for all of us
to see if we're going
to fold under pressure.
If we're going to
still settle for what's
been going on for many years
and hasn't been working,
or are we going to somehow come
together, talk about things
and try to make the best
out of a bad situation?
My painting, it was just
another reminder to me
of how fragile life is.
But also, these guys were
very influential, very strong,
and even though they
all died prematurely,
they left behind a legacy
that was pretty amazing.
I think we live through
unheard of times.
Nobody expected it, but then
again, I think also as artists,
we're called to action
in a strange way.
But then you think,
what can you do?
How can I channel my anxiety?
The series is called
Everyday Objects
in the Time of a
Pandemic, and it
starts from the very
beginning, and it really
depicts [? drastically ?] the
objects that we either craved
or couldn't find, comparing
also the pandemic in the states
and with other countries.
I feel there's a lot more we
should have done, we can do.
And so I'm just taking stock
of where we stand right now.
Well, it was interesting
to be in COVID
because I was in a bubble.
We're really yearning
for that touch.
So before, when our technology
was entertaining us and keeping
us in our bubbles, now we
are forced to be in a bubble,
and we can't leave the bubble.
The rug was pulled out
from underneath us,
and now all we do is yearn
for that human touch.
So the idea was to build up
a patchwork quilt of voices,
so we end up having a
whole variety of poetry,
song lyrics, essays, and
one particular index.
The juxtaposition of
written word and art
is what makes the
show so moving.
The way I always process
things is through artists,
and particularly through
conversations with artists.
And I was very
interested to hear
and think about what they are
experiencing in this moment.
Conversations I was having with
artists were all about what
was happening inside the studio.
The studio was the safe space.
It was the creative space.
The interesting thing is that
when George Floyd happened,
and protests and
demonstrations began,
the conversation shifted.
And it became less about
what I'm doing in my studio
alone as an independent
creator, to what can I
do outside the studio?
How can I collaborate
with people?
How can I connect
with other artists?
How can I express my
voice and my vision
in a way that has
a wider impact?
People need to come and see
how artists are responding
to these important issues.
Artists and writers are
the antenna of society.
People look to artists
to understand the present
and also to see what
the future holds.
When your child asks you, what
does Black Lives Matter mean,
that's a simple question, and
it's a complicated question.
And it's a question which
you can have for many years
with your children, with
your friends, with yourself.
And I said to myself, why not
start this conversation now?
