|
But an inner voice spoke as the pandemic hit -
telling him that he should step up and help other emerging
artists.
"I made a promise to myself that every time I sell a painting,
I'll buy a painting," said Haitian-born Philoche, 44, who grew
up in Connecticut and was drawing and painting before he could
walk.
Philoche posted a video of himself on Instagram offering to buy
as much artwork as possible to help fellow artists hurt by the
shutdowns.
"I hit 'send' and that's when I opened Pandora's Box," he said.
Within a year Philoche has spent $70,000 on more than 200 pieces
of art from over 150 artists around the world.
"I'm still going through it, buying it and I love it," he said.
"I also realize that now that I have a seat at the table I have
to open doors for people, so I'm making it my mission now, you
know, to give people a shot."
Philoche's collection, which includes pieces by his former
professors and his tattoo artist, has caught the attention of
museums around the world which want to host it. But first, he
wants a New York exhibition for the works, which are displayed
throughout his small studio apartment and kept in a storage
unit.
"It's going to be really cool and really fun and amazing to call
some of these artists that I purchased their work, whose work
has never been sold before," he said.
"I was the first person to buy something from them and be like,
hey, by the way, you know the painting I just bought, it's
actually going to be hanging in the MoMa."
(Reporting by Alicia Powell; Editing by Richard Chang and
Rosalba O'Brien)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content
|
|
