‘Do Remember They Can’t Cancel the Spring’

A yellow daffodil is in bloom in an iPad drawing. Anxieties are growing at the spread of the coronavirus. But it delivers a message that the virus cannot stop spring from coming. It is a drawing that British artist David Hockney recently posted on social media of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.

Artists all over the world are conveying their message of hope online while the world is locking down the door due to COVID-19. “I would suggest people could draw at this time,” he said in an interview with British daily The Guardian. “Question everything and do not think about photography.” The 82-year-old artist recommended everyone drawing with open eyes. “We need art, and I do think it can relieve stress,” he said. “What is stress? It’s worrying about something in the future. Art is now.”

Danish artist Olafur Eliasson also wrote, “In this time of social distancing and isolation, how can we find new ways of being together – or, to use sociologist Sherry Turkle’s words, new ways of being alone together?” on his Instagram. He posted artworks of German artist Franz Erhard Walther and Yugoslavian artist Marina Abramovic. The 53-year-old artist climbed to stardom by setting up an artificial sun at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2003.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei shared on March 20 a video of a Fangcang hospital, the temporary medical facility in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. “COVID-19 taught us our peaceful lives come at a cost,” the Chinese artist said in the video. “Let’s not lose our positive attitude.”


Min Kim kimmin@donga.com