(Columbia, Tenn. - January 25, 2011) - - - Middle Tennessee artist Felix Maxwell will display a selection of his works at Columbia State Community College's Pryor Gallery Art Gallery from February 2 through February 25. The Pryor Gallery will host a reception on Saturday, February 12 at 5:30 p.m. prior to the Fisk Jubilee Singers performance in the Cherry Theater in the Waymon L. Hickman Humanities Building at 7 p.m. that night. Both the exhibit and the artist reception are free and open to the public.

Maxwell, who served as president of the Marshall County Arts Guild for several years, says he searches for the essence of his subject, "to capture the expression and aliveness" of figures. Both the large scale of his canvases and the richness of tones lend depth and realism to his portraits and figural work.

His work has been selected for a number of exhibitions: The Pastel Society of America in New York City (recipient of the National Arts Club Award); the Midwest Pastel Society in Chicago, IL; the Central South Art Exhibition in Nashville; the Black Creativity Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Technology and Industry in Chicago, IL (awarded first place in drawings and pastels); the Red Clay Survey in Hunstville, AL; Watkins Institute (awarded first place in graphics); and the Tennessee State Museum Black Art Best of Tennessee Exhibition. A number of public and private collections include his drawings, as well as portrait commissions.

Maxwell grew up in Cornersville, TN, but for high school moved into the larger community of Lewisburg, where he has pursued his love of drawing people with pastels in shades of gray in the full range from black to white for forty years. He is currently working on a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA.

The Pryor Art Gallery is located in the Waymon L. Hickman building on Columbia State's Columbia Campus. The Gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., and on Friday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. The gallery is also open on weekends during special events. For more information on the events held in Pryor Gallery, call (931) 540-2883.