Billy Tripp's Mindfield

An exhibit of photographs depicting Billy Tripp’s Mindfield went on display at The Dixie Performing Arts and Academic Enrichment Center in Huntingdon in mid-February, 2006.

The work of three West Tennessee photographers entitled “View of a Vision” displays each artist’s perspective of the massive outdoor sculpture in downtown Brownsville. Forty-five photographs of The Mindfield feature Francis Boyd’s (Bolivar) black and white images as well as color photography by Bill Hickerson (Jackson) and David Mathis (Humboldt). “View of a Vision” is a traveling exhibition of the West Tennessee Regional Art Center in Humboldt. It has also been shown at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center in Clarksville and the Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville.

According to Arts Tennessee, a publication of the Tennessee Arts Commission, “The Mindfield is Billy Tripp’s lifework and a spectacular four-story sculpture made of steel girders and scrap metal from junkyards and demolition projects. Spires shoot about 80 feet into the air, and the work has steel footprints and faces suspended from chains and hooks. The entire work is painted battleship gray – Tripp’s favorite color. There are random letters, names, and dancing stick figures. Many view The Mindfield as an autobiographical collection of images and symbols relating to Tripp’s life.”

Hickerson, curator of the West Tennessee Regional Art Center, suggests the complexity of the sculpture. “It’s very difficult to describe -- artistic, whimsical, spiritual. Like so many other pieces of art, what a viewer brings to it affects what they get from it.”

Boyd adds, “I saw it and got into it and discovered all the different shapes and details of it. It really kind of drew me to it. Each time I went to photograph it, I saw something new.”

Sensing a spiritual quality to Tripp’s mesmerizing maze of metal, Mathis wrote a poetic statement that is a part of the exhibit.
The exhibit also features a video presentation of the photos along with an audio profile of Tripp produced by Hal Humphreys for National Public Radio. “View of a Vision” is sponsored by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

The Dixie is located at191 Court Square in Huntingdon, Tennessee 38344

For information call Executive Director, Leigh Warren, at 731.986.2100 or e-mail lwarren@dixiepac.net.

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