New York painter buys works of not-so-lucky artists to help them
NEW YORK: Painter Guy Stanley Philoche, a star in the New York art world, had wanted to treat himself to a fancy watch ater a hugely successful gallery show. Then the pandemic hit, and he feared for all the struggling artists who haven’t been so lucky. So he gave up his $15,000 Rolex dreams and went on a different kind of buying spree, puting out a call on Instagram in late March to any artist anywhere who had creations to sell. The submissions rolled in, hundreds at a time. He’s spent about $60,000 so far with plans to continue as long as he can, and Philoche’s own patrons have taken notice and asked him to make purchases on their behalf as well.
“It’s about artists helping artists,” said the 43-year-old Philoche, who came to America from Haiti with his family at age 3, nearly nothing to their names. “I’m not a rich man,” he said, “but I owe a big debt to the art world. Art saved my life, and I made a promise to myself that once I made it, to always buy from artists who hadn’t goten their big break.” Philoche has a budget, seeking out works in the $300 to $500 range. He buys only what he loves, from as far away as London and as close as the studio next to his in East Harlem. An abstract mixed-media piece by Michael Shannon, his studio neighbour, was his first purchase, leading Philoche to include him and others he’s discovered in an upcoming group gallery show. About half the artists Philoche has chosen are people he knows, many in New York. The others sent him direct messages on Instagram with sample work in hopes of being picked.
Philoche, who went to art school in Connecticut where his family setled, has lined the walls of his tiny apartment with his Philoche Collection During Covid, ranging from graffiti-inspired work and portraiture to pop art and a huge pistol done in bright yellow, red and blue paint.
Philoche’s own work goes for up to $125,000 a piece. During a recent interview at his studio, he slid out from storage large canvases from his breakthrough, Mark Rothko-esque abstract Untitled Series and a collection of female nudes with duct tape over their mouths. Oten whimsical, he has also produced paintings inspired by Monopoly and other board games, as well as comics such as Charlie Brown.
Among his clients: Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and Barclay Investments Inc., along with Uma Thurman, George Clooney and fellow artist Julian Schnabel.
Giving back isn’t something the affable Philoche just recently decided to do. Over his 20plus year career, he has tried to stick to a simple rule to support other artists: Sell a painting, buy a painting. But it was a chance meeting with a friend and fellow artist who was anxious about the pandemic with a baby on the way that set him on his pandemic buying spree.
“I’m not on the first line, but my community was impacted as well,” he said. “It was just the right thing to do. I love waking up in my apartment every morning seeing the walls. There’s paintings on the floor, all over. Some of these people have never sold a painting in their life.” His feisty French bulldog Picasso at his side, Philoche recalled his own meager start in New York ater he put himself through art school while working full-time as a bartender.
“People didn’t open the doors for me. I had to get into the room through the back door, or through the window,” he said with a laugh. “But now that I’m in the room, with a seat at the table, I have to open doors for these artists.”
Philoche believes it is a moral imperative to “give-back” and has generously donated his time and work to benefit a great many charities over the years including The American Cancer Society’s Pink and Black Tie Gala, Kids With Cameras, My Language Project The Leukemia Needs Foundation, artrageous! and Tibet House. He is also one of a handful of artists who have commited to buying a painting whenever he sells a painting in order to support fellow artists. Guy is truly a git to the modern art world.
Haitian-born modern artist Guy Stanley
Philoche immigrated to Connecticut when he was three. As the middle child of three boys and coming from a family of sports enthusiasts whose passion he didn’t share, Philoche turned to art as his calling. While remaining close to his Haitian Roots, Philoche was the only son to buck his culture’s tradition of the entire family living together and struck out on his own — first atending Paier College of Art and then Yale. He now lives in New York City.
For the past 15 years, Guy Stanley Philoche has been atracting international atention with his work and his impressive roster of solo shows. As an artist, Guy’s palete is strong and sophisticated. His layering technique has created a body of paintings so richly textured that one can hardly hold back from reaching out and touching the canvas. In fact, it is the artist’s intent and wish that the viewer will follow their desire to reach out and feel the different textures of his canvases. His work is for the viewer’s pleasure, to be fully enjoyed from a tactile standpoint, and he has varnished the canvases for exactly that reason.