CRITICAL REVIEW

I have been working on this series since 2005. They have been shown in a number of solo and group exhibitions.

Roberta Waddell, Curator Emerita, The New York Public Library
Commented on “Eddie 51” which was an official selection of the 2009 Boston Printmakers Biennial Exhibition in Boston.
She said: ” Among the relief prints that I feel demonstratedt thematic and technical synergy is Neil Shigley’s larger than life “Eddie 51”.
Shigley aggressively gouged a sheet of Plexiglas with marks that give a powerful presence to his subject, a homeless San Diego man.
Prints need not be flat, nor must they be framed, like Neil Shigley’s portrait, that is mounted on canvas, unglazed and unframed, to heighten
the work’s impact and presence.

“Marco 42” received 1st prize at the La Jolla Atheneaum’s 2009 Annual Juried Exhibit curated by Michael Krichman and Mathieu Gregorie.

In an article in Contemporary Impressions Journal, Catherine Kernan wrote:
“… considerations of emotional impact explain Neil Shigley’s choice of relief prints at “larger-than-life size for Invisible People, a series
of lusciously stark black and white portraits of the homeless around San Diego. Their size makes them confrontational and riveting; we
engage eye-to-eye or turn away, wincing. Shigley’s architectonic cutting marks draw, literally, an analogy with the time-scared faces.
Hand printing increases their poignancy; we know each inch was pressed with human effort”.

A one-man show of the Invisible People series in 2006 at the Earle and Birdie Gallery in Pacific Beach California was the subject of televised
interview called “Profiles”.The curator, Mark Elliot Lugo said of the work;
“ Shigley’s prints are remarkable for their size, the graphic power of the images, and the technical skills he demonstrates”.

“Luther 49” was selected as a semi-finalist in the 2009 National Portrait Competition in Washington DC’s National Portrait Gallery.

In 2009 the series was exhibited at the San Diego International Airport as part of their cultural art program.
While on display he portraits were seen by over 2 million people from around the world. Some might say why would you have images
of the homeless the first thing a traveler will see in your city as they arrive? It shows me foresight, and frankly the courage that the airport,
the port, and the city of San Diego had innot hiding this issue, but instead, bringing it into focus. The very reason I have done it and done
on a large scale, to bring awareness.

REACTION FROM STRANGERS

As an artist I was initially drawn to the incredible character in the faces of the homeless. A character that is earned by sometimes many years
of life on the streets and the daily struggle for survival that that can bring. My interest is in the process of creating art. The step-by-step, moment-
by- moment decision making process: using descriptive marks to find the forms of the face. Once the piece is done, I move on. Some works of
art take a life of their own. This series of portraits have taken on a life of their own, bigger than me. I am now a viewer as well.
There is no greater honor as an artist than to have a piece of your work, touch someone. Judging from the many emails that I have received
from people who have seen these portraits, this work has touched people. Here are a few of the many comments that I have received from
around the world. (Notice how these comments do not talk about the art but talk about the feelings that people have about them).

“I want to tell you how moved I was when I first saw the Invisible People at the SD airport. It was in April and I was able to look at each face,
wow they are beautiful. I thought later that I was the only one looking at the faces at that moment, with people rushing by…exactly what the
images said to me. The irony. No one sees them on the street or in the airport. I passed by last week and had a chance to look at those
haunting images again. Seeing statements like yours is why I am an artist”.
Geraldine

“Your images brought tears to my eyes. I was struck by the honor, respect and compassion that came through. I’ve worked extensively with
the homeless population in Chicago. And honor, respect and compassion very often don’t enter into the equation. You gave them what the
general population often doesn’t. It was beautiful. So I just wanted you to know that your work left a profound impression on me.
Thank you very much”.
Amy

‘The Invisible People’ portraits are important pieces that are receiving acknowledgment because they deserve to and because they need
to if change is going to take place. The problem of homelessness is awful. The underlying problems having to do with society’s view of
who is deserving and who is not needs to be challenged in a healthy ways, and needs to include discussions about privilege and power.
Your pieces are effective because they help raise awareness; they stop people in their tracks and force them to look at the problem.
This awareness provokes feelings, thoughts, discussions, and ownership. We are all a part of the system, either as oppressors or those
being oppressed; we are all a part of the problem. Sometimes it just seems so overwhelming.
Michelle

Something about those faces, it won’t leave me alone. I really love the spirit you’ve captured on canvas. Strength and grace in places no
one ever bothers to look. There is a beautiful chaos in the lines that comes together in a perfect harmony.Bold and delicate. straight-foward
and complex. Alone. Self. Staring right at you. Sometimes art takes on a life all its own. Bigger than expected or foreseen. I respect what you
have born. Your eye. The Individual. Solitary and very Real. I have no right to offer an opinion. Hopefully appreciation is ok”.
Greg

“I’m writing to thank and congratulate you on the INVISIBLE PEOPLE exhibit at the airport! My husband and I were arriving home on after
a very very long journey home from India, and 4 weeks away. Though exhausted, your portraits and words of the homeless, pulled us
into participation. It has taken an ongoing practice, over many years, of shifting myself into conscious connection–eye contact, recognition
of the individual Being, our oneness (i.e. namaste)–to move from my earlier patterns of avoidance, shame, confusion, overwhelm, discomfort
when meeting homeless individuals on the streets of San Diego. It took claiming my own shadows, including one of the primary shadows, that
of "hiding" (invisibility). Your work furthers my journey of consciousness and connection. Touching down at home, we spent time with the exhibit,
pulledby the power, dignity, and elegance of the faces, engaged with the words”.
Meo

“This work speaks to how we are in relation to others. Basically I can be in the world with others in two ways – Seeing them as people
(equal to us) or seeing them as objects (they are in our way, vehicles to help us achieve things, or completely irrelevant). We see people
as irrelevancies in our life. So often the homeless fit into this category to us as we pass them on the streets. Most people (and it pains me
to say that I have fallen in this category) begin to talk on their cell phones, “become distracted” by the local architecture, or begin
walking faster to make it seem they have no time for anyone when they pass someone who is homeless. The interesting thing here is,
we go out of our way to do it. We actively go out of our way to make someone irrelevant or invisible to us”!
MikeT