Gregory Raymond Halili,
Arc, 2003, watercolor on paper,
image size 2 x 1 1/2 inches
paper size 10 x 7 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili,
Central Park Lovers, 2003, watercolor on paper,
image size 2 x 1 1/2 inches
paper size 10 x 7 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili,
Watertanks III, 2004,
watercolor on paper,
image size 2 x 1 1/2 inches
paper size 10 x 7 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili,
Skylight, 2004, watercolor on paper,
image size 1 1/2 x 2 inches
paper size 7 x 10 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili,
Broadway Looking Towards Downtown,
2006, watercolor on paper,
image size 2 x 1 1/2inches
paper size 10 x 7 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili,
Gateway, 2006, watercolor on paper,
image size 2 x 1 1/2 inches
paper size 10 x 7 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili,
Neighbors II, 2004, watercolor on paper,
image size 1 1/2 x 2 inches
paper size 7 x 10 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili,
Liberty, 2006, watercolor on paper,
image size 1 1/2 x 2 inches
paper size 7 x 10 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili,
Downtown II, 2004, watercolor on paper,
image size 1 1/2 x 2 inches
paper size 7 x 10 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili,
Upper West Side, 2004,
watercolor on paper,
image size 1 1/2 x 2 inches
paper size 7 x 10 inches

Gregory Halili is known for his colorful watercolors with fluttery winged butterflies painted on myriad fabrics, and for his tropical visionary landscapes of paradisiacal settings, all of miniature scale. In his last gallery exhibition entitled "Nostalgia," the artist painted a visual "love letter" to his country of birth, the Philippines. Four years ago, he embarked on a new series, images of New York, bringing his unique vision to the structures of this city, also in intimate scale, measuring from 1 x 1 1/2 inches to 3 x 5 inches on paper 7 x 10 inches. Using sepia-related tones with hints of color and sparkles of gold, the artist captures vistas of the city, depicting the lake in Central Park in winter with distant views of apartment towers; buildings in perspective, the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings among them; details of structures, both recognizable as New York icons and anonymous, that fascinate the artist visually.

At times the artist captures a line-up of New York's varied styles of architecture, buildings in a horizontal parade, or vertically, stacked like a cubist composition. At other times, the artist captures details of structures, the windows and fire escape staircases on the outside of a cast iron building, the bold face of a clock under a hotel's canopy, the filigree of wrought iron metal work on a rooftop terrace above Central Park. Through the sepia golden glow, Halili infuses his watercolors with the history of New York though the images are contemporary, based on photographs the artist takes himself. Whether he is exploring the macro view of New York in a "cityscape," or the micro view in a complex architectural detail, the thread of a new love letter is emerging, an appreciation for the city he has adopted as his own.

Halili not only explores the structures of New York's landscape, the face of the city, in concrete, steel and glass, he also offers a patchwork of New York City people in a series of over 100 single portraits. This is the artist's way of showing the four seasons in New York. Most of the people Halili paints are people he sees in the streets, neither friends nor important personages. In winter his portraits of are of people dressed in coats, scarves and hats in shades of black, gray and brown; in summer people are dressed in tank tops, with bare arms, donning necklaces and other personal décor of sunny seasons. The covering of winter is gone and the colors of spring and summer clothing animate people in profile or frontal view. Each portrait in miniature (from the chest up) is set against a single color background. The anonymity of New York's population emanates from the faces of people who fill the city's streets.

In his newest portrait pieces--one of which is entitled "Broadway"--Halili depicts a crowd of people, again painted from the chest up in winter garb, presumably walking down the street. This watercolor, a slice of pedestrian life, conveys much about the city dweller: there is a sense of movement characteristic of the people of New York; there is a sense of concentration in each face, a determination perhaps time or destination related; a "street-smart expression" bedecks each face with eyes looking straight ahead and no smiles present; and there is a sense of style expressed by each individual in his/her choice of a down coat, a wool coat, a fur collar or a dashing scarf. Young, old, people of all colors, heights, move anonymously through the city streets at all hours of the day and night, and Halili has captured this sense of activity in "Broadway."

The artist has written of his New York series as follows: "My documentation of New York City and its people is the result of years of cultivation and development of my admiration for and inspiration from this amazing city. Emigrating from half a world away, how blessed and lucky I am to explore and experience the extraordinary sensations and endless visual delights in every corner of this city. Creating the paintings of New York cityscapes and portraits has been and will continue to be a journey. Each painting begins with a single photograph, selected from hundreds of images I have taken over the years. I do not reproduce the photographic image, I use it as a source of inspiration and reference. The physical accumulation of my NYC photographs and the mental incubation of my memories are the foundation for and beginning of my creative process. In "Moment of Sanctuary," I want to evoke in the viewer a sense of my visual journey; an experience of the timeless quality of this city, which I desire to capture in my all works."

Gregory Raymond Halili was born in Manila, Philippines in 1975. He received his B.F.A. from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His work has been shown at The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock; Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, New York; Artists' House Gallery, Philadelphia; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington, D.C; Hammond Museum and Sculpture Garden, Salem, New York; Montclair State University, New Jersey; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida; and Jorge B. Vargas Museum, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. His work is included in the collection of The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. He has won awards from numerous institutions including the Art Institute of New Jersey; "Trenton Times" (New Jersey); and the United Nations Postal Administration. He was named Governor's School of the Arts Scholar (New Jersey) and is listed in "Who's Who Among American Students."