Gregory Raymond Halili, NYC Portraits (Spring and Summer) 33, 2004, watercolor on paper, paper size 10 x 7 inches, image size 2 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili, NYC Portraits (Spring and Summer) 11, 2004, watercolor on paper, paper size 10 x 7 inches, image size 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili, NYC Portraits (Spring and Summer) 1, 2004, watercolor on paper, paper size 10 x 7 inches, image size 1 3/4 x 2 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili, NYC Portraits (Spring and Summer) 13, 2004, watercolor on paper, paper size 10 x 7 inches, image size 1 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili, NYC Portraits (Spring and Summer) 27, 2004, watercolor on paper, paper size 10 x 7 inches, image size 3 x 2 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili, NYC Portraits (Spring and Summer) 22, 2004, watercolor on paper, paper size 10 x 7 inches, image size 1 1/4 x 2 inches

Gregory Raymond Halili, NYC Portraits (Spring and Summer) 54, 2004, watercolor on paper, paper size 10 x 7 inches, image size 1 1/2 x 2 inches

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."

Oval Orchids

Conversation in Contemplation