Yoko Ono’s art before, during and after her years with John Lennon celebrated in Tate Modern exhibition that span 7 decades
- Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind shows seven decades of her art, from 1950s New York, to her decade with John Lennon and the 40 years since his murder
- The exhibition shows the vast range of her often controversial work, from pioneering interactive pieces to her peace-themed artworks, videos and soundscapes
Before there was John and Yoko – and after – there was just Yoko Ono.
The Japanese-American artist became a global celebrity through her marriage to John Lennon, her partner for more than a decade until his murder in 1980, as well as her collaborator on peace-protest “bed-ins” and in the Plastic Ono Band.
Yet that period forms just a small part of an exhibition opening on February 15 at the Tate Modern gallery in London. One of the largest shows of Ono’s work ever mounted, it includes seven decades of work by the artist, who turns 91 on Sunday.
More than 200 artworks – including film, music, soundscapes, paintings, drawings and sculptures – trace Ono’s career from 1950s and 1960s New York, where her flat became a hang-out for bohemian artists, to Japan, where she brought together artists from the East and West.
Then it’s on to London, where Ono met the movers and shakers of Swinging Sixties counterculture – including, fatefully, Lennon, who came to see her show at a London gallery.