Gallery Director Tom Styron and attendees at the opening reception (Nov 2010) for "Confrontations" speak on the influential works of Merton D. Simpson. An internationally respected painter and gallerist (born 1928), Simpson created the "Confrontation Series" between 1964 through the early 1970's. These provocative paintings, featuring tribal motifs and collage technique (influenced by Romare Bearden), was meant to capture the conflicts and tensions of the Civil Rights Movement in the US (with parallels to the 1960's freedom struggles in West Africa). Simpson was a member of Spiral at this time, a NYC based African American artists collective of socially-conscious black painters, founded by Romare Bearden. The group also included: Norman Lewis, Charles Alston, Hale Woodruff, Richard Mayhew, Emma Amos, Alvin Hollingsworth and Reginald Gammon. Spiral sought to address and chronicle the social, political and economic concerns of the day through the medium of art. The Merton D. Simpson Gallery is located in Chelsea, NYC. Simpson lives on the Upper East Side.

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