After a youth spent in the cotton fields of Georgia, an arrest after a 1960s civil rights march, and a near-lynching, Wilfred Rembert became an artist whose work is now being shown in Manhattan.

Adelson Galleries and Peter Tillou Works of Art have collaborated to present the first major solo exhibition on this self-taught artist. Tillou met Rembert at a Connecticut school several years ago and became a supporter. Yale University Art Gallery director Jock Reynolds also recognized the strength of his story-telling paintings and exhibited Rembert's work next to that of renowned African-American artist and educator Hale Woodruff.

Rembert infuses his work with strong characters—from pool sharks to reverends, midwives to chain gangs—all of which come to life in scenes ranging from cotton fields to night life. These emotionally powerful tableaux are drawn from Rembert's own life experience.