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Reginald Gammon(1921 - 2005) Reginald Gammon Reginald Gammon is one of Albuquerque’s most well known artists. Part of the Harlem Renaissance, he has received too many awards and exhibitions to list them all on this short page. His subject matter often deals with dramatic moments in history and unlikely heroes. Gammon began to formulate his style as a figurative and social artist in the early 1940s. His figurative work often portrays ethnic figures and political leaders, but his images can range from being intensely personal as in his depiction of a triple bypass, to very humorous as in his series of gym images. However, over the last few years, the artist has focused almost exclusively on Jazz figures. Jazz is important to him since it is a symbol of the contributions African Americans have made to the American society and culture. Often, but not always, his images depict a single musician in an iconic and heroic manner. In most pieces the viewer can just see the notes flowing from the instrument. All of Gammons images are full of intense emotions and they live up to his aim of portraying the depth and spirituality of African American culture Reginald Gammon was at the center of the struggle for the equal representation of African American art and artists beginning in the early 1960's. He was a founding member of Spiral, a black artists' group formed in 1962. He received critical acclaim for his painting Freedom Now, shown in the group's exhibition in 1965. The painting typified his strong graphic style and effective use of 'photographic' framing and cropping while maintaining a formal quality in his compositions. When Spiral disbanded, he joined Benny Andrews and others in the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, again addressing the exclusion and ill treatment of African American artists by mainstream institutions. Over his long career he worked in advertising and teaching, becoming a professor of Humanities at Western Michigan University in 1983, a position he held until recently retiring. Click here to begin slide show