- What's up everybody?
I'm here with Justin Hartley and Nichola Coughlan.
Give it up! (audience cheers)
Okay, I'm not gonna lie, this whole commercial break
I'd been dying to look to talk to you about Paisley.
Your dog is so adorable, Justin, oh my gosh.
And my dog Henry looks like him, he's just black.
But yeah, anyway, that's a cute dog.
But anyway, my next guest is an internationally
renowned artist from Harlem, everybody.
His paintings are bold, bright and dynamic.
And so is his heart, which matters even more.
This past year, he's dug deep into his pockets to buy more
than 100 pieces of art by up and comers.
Check this out.
- To all my artist friends right now,
I'm looking to buy as much artwork as possible.
I just wanna do my small part.
I've been an avid collector for over 20 years.
So if you are an artist, an illustrator or a sculptor,
and you have little small pieces that you're looking
to sell, I'm buying as much artwork as possible.
- So his goal wasn't just to help put money
in the hands of the artists struggling in the pandemic.
Also, it was getting collectors
and art dealers to take notice of these artists.
That makes him a Totally Rad Human, y'all.
(upbeat music)
(audience claps)
All right everybody, let's welcome Guy Stanley Philoche!
Give it up! (mimics air horn)
(audience cheers)
(laughs) So meet Justin and meet Nichola.
It's a weird meeting, but whatever,
it's COVID times. (laughs)
- Hey guys, nice to meet you. - How are ya?
- So Guy, tell me, what inspired this idea?
- Oh man, you know, to answer that question,
I guess you need to understand me a little bit.
You know, I'm Haitian, I was born in Haiti.
And my parents immigrated here from Haiti to the US.
And I was a weird, awkward kid, you know?
I didn't know the language.
I just got ripped from my country, basically.
And so art saved my life, you know?
I found my way in the world through art.
You know, fast forward 20 years later,
I just got off of my sold-out show
at Cavalier Gallery in New York City.
I wanted to do something really nice for myself.
So I decided that I wanted to buy
this really beautiful Rolex Watch.
And then just when I was about to pull the trigger
and buy this watch, this voice in my head was telling me
now is not the time to do it because COVID hit, you know?
So the galleries were being shut down.
My friends' shows were being shut down.
The art fairs were being shut down.
And that's when the phone calls from my friends
were just like, hey, listen, you know,
people were just panicking.
I never heard that type of panic in their voices before.
So I decided to buy as much art as possible,
with the help of my amazing gallery,
and also to help my amazing collectors.
- That's so cool.
Nichola, I heard you're a sketch artist as well.
- Yes. - Can I see some?
- I haven't done it in such...
You can, yes.
I feel nervous showing them to a professional artist.
Be kind, be kind.
- I know, I wanna- - Maybe he'll buy it.
- Oh there we go. - Oh my gosh!
- [Justin] Oh wow, look at that.
- So long ago.
I always loved the Olsen twins.
I wanted to be like the third Olsen twin,
make them triplets. (laughs)
- Oh my-
- It's like Mary Kate Olson.
It was this cool black and white picture.
- That's great. - That's amazing!
- Oh, thank you. - I could never do that.
Wow, Guy, what do you think?
- I think it's amazing.
I think her work is absolutely, absolutely beautiful.
- [Kelly] I love it, I love how the light-
- Oh thank you, Guy, you're so kind.
- Yeah, well, I mean, speaking of that, Guy,
how do you choose the pieces that...
'Cause it's subjective, art is subjective.
So how do you choose which pieces
you're gonna buy and invest in?
- You know, it's so funny,
'cause I have three important rules that I go by.
Rule number one is I buy what I love.
Rule number two is I buy what I love.
And the third rule is the most important rule
you buy what you love.
I buy what I love, you know?
- Yeah, it is something that hits you.
It is so subjective though.
Even people like coming to my house,
they'll pick up something in my house,
and they'll be like, oh, this is amazing.
I'm like, oh that was, I love this one.
And they're like, yeah, that's fine, I'm into this.
And it is so subjective.
Well Guy recently came across a piece
he loves and wants to buy.
The artist has no idea he's ready with money in hand.
We have her in our virtual waiting room.
She thinks she's just joining us to talk about
being a struggling artist during the pandemic.
She has no idea her work is about
to become part of Guy's collection.
Makia is a mom of two, divorced
and trying to make her way in the art world.
She has no idea that Guy is here,
or that he wants to buy her work.
Let's bring her in, what's up, Makia?
How are you doing?
- Hi!
- Oh, I love your energy!
I love your vibe as well.
- Stop it!
(Kelly and audience laugh)
- I love your whole vibe as well,
your whole look, you are so cool.
Well, thank you for being on the show.
And thank you for making me smile on the inside.
Makia, let me introduce you to Justin and Nichola.
Y'all say, hey.
- Hey, how are you? - Hi Makia!
How are you doing? - How are you?
- Good to meet you.
- It's such a beautiful spirit you have, Makia.
So how did you get into art?
- Oh wow, funny story, 2014 was a rough year.
It was the year of my divorce,
and the year I closed my company.
But it was also the year I fell in love with art.
My first painting happened in 2015.
It was a painting of my grandmother,
and it sort of continued.
All the paintings, or much of the paintings
I painted afterwards was just like women or grandmothers
or just women of color specifically.
So throughout it all, like I just kept making art.
And I just kept being interested and being intrigued by it
and challenged by it, and now here I am,
on your show Kelly Clarkson.
- (laughs) Said my full name, I love you.
Well, let's take a look at more of Makia's work.
Here we go.
(audience claps) - Thank you.
- Oh, it's beautiful.
I love that.
It's so funny, 'cause most people would look at the one
of the astronaut and think, oh that's lonely,
and I'm like, freedom!
Justin and Nichola, what do you think of Makia's work?
You like it?
- I think it's beautiful. - It's stunning.
- I love that stuff, that's great.
- I know, well-
- And you talk about it with such a passion too,
that's so beautiful. - Yeah,
what a great story too.
- And it is so important, you're right,
to really love what you do.
We only get one life that we know of.
So you better enjoy what you're doing.
Well, we know someone who's really
taken an interest in Makia's work.
And I know they've already been in touch on social media.
So let's get Guy Stanley Philoche on the line right now.
(audience claps)
(Makia screams)
- Hey, how's it going?
- So Guy, you have something
you wanna say to Makia, go for it.
- Hey Makia, listen, I know we've been DM-ing
on social media and everything like that.
I love your work, I love your use of color, your textures.
Your subject matter are absolutely beautiful.
It would be an honor for me to purchase one
of your pieces and add it to the Philoche Collection.
But not just that, though, I'm also curating a show,
and I would love to have you in the show as well.
- Yeah!
What do you think, Makia?
I wanna see that art show. - Thank you.
- I wanna be invited to that art show.
- Give me a virtual hug right now.
Give me a big hug.
Give me a big virtual hug right now.
- [Kelly] I love it, I love it!