Wall Street, New York City is Orlik’s impression of the view from his bedroom window, as he saw it through his imagination. For Orlik, the imagination is as real as matter itself and his whole vision roams across the scene: “I put everything into it.” (Henry Orlik, in conversation, 25th April 2025). Thus, the financial heart of New York takes on a life of its own; a cityscape filled with diverse buildings of different colours and shapes and anthropomorphic suggestions - at once sinister, ominous and humorous. A snake slithers out of a wall, a deceptive serpent and tempter but also a symbol of transformation and regeneration; a plait of hair is lowered from a high arched window, like a Rapunzel escape attempt; a pointed pink tongue protrudes rudely from a double-arched window; beneath it, the building takes on the face of a dragon, with windows as spikey teeth and a porthole window for an eye. A large squat building’s windows form a triangular nose, grinning mouth and two red, menacing eyes.

Walking down Wall Street, one can see how the buildings sparked Orlik’s imagination. A glance, for example, at the rectangular windows and door of 23 Wall Street can readily conjure up a face. Orlik takes such ideas and characteristically brings them to life through his unique vision of the world, and in so doing challenges viewers to question their environment.

A black eagle banner hangs prominently, angled like a flag; symbolically, used by imperial nations across the ages to represent strength, freedom and courage, but also the power and authority of governments. Opposite, we have a glimpse of an apartment starkly lit, two hieroglyphic chairs around a table with a picture above. It is a scene of domesticity, a reminder of lives past, present and future that occupy the city – beneficiaries of or slaves to commerce? Daylight can be seen through the balustrades on the floor below: the building lacks substance and structure, much like a deck of cards.

Beneath the balustrade hangs a swinging lightbulb from a single thread, both a symbol of torture and enlightenment. To its side, beneath a jaunty yellow, blue and pink awning, lies a naked, sleeping woman, a recurring symbol in Orlik’s work. She represents escape through dreams: she sleeps, but all around her, her dreams take form. To her left a small, indistinct silhouetted statue stands at the bottom of the painting – like a nymph about to dive into a pool. As part of the woman’s dream, she dives into the depths of her subconscious or perhaps seeks freedom from it.

In keeping with Orlik’s preoccupation with Time, from the plethora of suggestive imagery comes the notion that Wall Street, New Yorkis all imperial cities across the ages. All that happens in Wall Street has happened before in other great cities in other times and will happen again as cities rise and fall and cultures and currency change.