One of the exhibition's key organizers - Roland Penrose - had seen Maddox and John Melville's work at a gallery in Mayfair, and met Maddox at Penrose's house in Hampstead to talk about featuring in the exhibition. The Birmingham artists were highly critical of the selection for the exhibition of artists they saw as "overnight surrealists", such as Graham Sutherland, Cecil Collins, Robert Medley and John Minton, however, and refused to participate. Instead of submitting artworks the group submitted a letter of protest, which was displayed for a period at the exhibition.