(In this book, Yono offers enchanting and thought-provokin...)
In this book, Yono offers enchanting and thought-provoking exercises, that open the readers' eyes and all of their senses to more creative and mindful ways of relating to ourselves, each other and the planet we cohabit. Also, this work represents 100 black-and-white line drawings by Yoko.
Yoko Ono is a Japanese artist, peace activist, singer and songwriter. She represents Neo-Dada and Feminist Art movements and is best known for her involvement in the Fluxus art movement and, in the culture at large, for her marriage to the Beatles frontman John Lennon.
Background
Yoko Ono was born on February 18, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. She is a daughter of Isoko Ono, a painter, and Eisuke Ono, a wealthy banker and former classical pianist. Her maternal great-grandfather, Yasuda Zenjirō, was a Japanese entrepreneur from Toyama, Etchu Province (present-day Toyama Prefecture), who founded the Yasuda zaibatsu. Also, Yoko has a younger brother, whose name is Keisuke Ono.
When Yoko was a baby, her family temporary lived in San Francisco, where her father was transferred by his employer. In 1937, the family moved back to their native Japan. In 1940, the family moved to New York City. The next year, Yoko's father, Eisuke, was transferred from New York City to Hanoi, and the family returned to Japan.
During the time of World War II and the great fire-bombing of March 9, 1945, Yoko stayed in Tokyo.
Education
Ono studied piano from the age of 4 to 12 or 13. She also attended kabuki performances with her mother.
In her early years, Yoko studied at the Peers School in Tokyo, one of the most exclusive schools in Japan. Later in her lifetime, she attended Keimei Gakuen, an exclusive Christian primary school, run by the Mitsui family. After World War II, Peers School was reopened and Ono attended the educational establishment again. She finished the school in 1951 and continued her studies at the Gakushuin University, being accepted into the Philosophy program. Although, after two semesters, Yoko left the university.
Later, when the artist reunited with her family in the United States, she also became a student of Sarah Lawrence College. Yoko had planned to be a writer, but her writings didn't fit the Western academic mold, embraced by her professors at Sarah Lawrence College, although she continued utilizing her musical talents. In 1956, Ono left the college.
Moreover, Yoko received several Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degrees from different educational establishments, including the Art Institute Of Chicago in 1997, University of Liverpool in 2001 and Bard College in 2002.
During the 1960's, Ono gravitated toward the circles of artists, participating in "happenings", and held events at her own loft at 112 Chambers Street in New York City. Fluxus artists, avant-garde musicians and other performers gathered there on a regular basis. Named the "High Priestess of the Happening", Ono was considered a lightning rod for culture, always at the cutting edge of emerging trends in visual art and performance. La Monte Young, John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Peggy Guggenheim, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg were among the artists she hosted in her loft. Evening events typically drew as many as 200 people.
During that time, Yoko also held the post of a secretary and a teacher of traditional Japanese arts in order to earn a living. In 1961, she had her first solo exhibition.
By the mid-1960's, Ono established herself in the underground art scene. She performed musical pieces and was a reluctant part of the Fluxus art group — she was a seminal figure at its inception, but didn't want to remain associated with it, as she valued her independence as an artist.
In 1964, Yoko performed her famous "Cut Piece", in which she invited audience members to join her on stage and to cut off her clothing piece by piece. The performance is considered an early example of the burgeoning Feminist Art movement, and often described as one of Ono's most significant works. After that performance, Yoko was invited to hold an exhibition at the Indica Gallery in London.
It was at the Indica Gallery, that Ono met John Lennon. Their meeting marked the start of what would become a famous relationship, one, that was both personal and professional due to their many artistic collaborations. Ono and Lennon were perhaps best known for their performance pieces, such as "Bed-Ins" (1969). Also, in 1969, John and Yoko created their own rock band, entitled Plastic Ono Band. The couple continued to work together on a variety of artistic projects until Lennon's death in 1980.
After the death of her husband, Yoko continued to pursue her career as an experimental composer and has released three solo albums, touring and composing two off-broadway musicals. Today, Ono continues to work for peace and sees things with ardent optimism, claiming we will see peace on earth in the year 2050. Moreover, she has exhibited her art internationally, and the first United States retrospective of her work opened in New York City in 2002.
Ono has also continued to honor Lennon's memory with a number of different projects. On October 9, 2002, she inaugurated the LennonOno Grant for Peace award to commemorate what would have been Lennon's 62nd birthday. On Lennon's birthday in 2007, she unveiled the Imagine Peace Tower on Videy, an island in Iceland. This outdoor artwork, created by Ono, represented her and Lennon's commitment to world peace.
Also, involved in an array of social endeavors, she co-founded the association Artists Against Fracking with her son Sean in 2012 to lobby against drilling for natural gas in New York State.
Yoko Ono is a prolific singer, songwriter and artist, who became known worldwide in the 1960's, when she married Beatles front man John Lennon. In the 1960's, Yoko was one of the strongest feminist voices to emerge from the art world. Also, during that time, she opened her home to dancers, composers and artists and encouraged them to work together. The building of interdisciplinary community is another great area of achievement in her career and a fundamental aspect of her practice.
Yoko's most important works include "Painting to Hammer a Nail", "Bag Piece" and "Cut Piece".
She received many awards, including Helen Caldicott Leadership Award in 1987, Skowhegan Award in 2002, Multimedia over Coax Alliance Award in 2003, Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, Golden Lion Award in 2009, Oskar Kokoschka Prize in 2012 and others.
Today, her work can be found in several important museum collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and others.
Quotations:
"I thought art was a verb, rather than a noun."
"I see life as the playground of our lives."
"You may think I'm small, but I have a universe inside my mind."
"Art is my life and my life is art."
"Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life."
Personality
Ono has been an activist for peace and human rights since the 1960's. Also, she remains outspoken in her support of feminism and openly bitter about the racism.
Connections
In 1956, Yono married Toshi Ichiyanagi, a Japanese composer and pianist. Some time later, in 1962, the couple divorced. Later that year, on November 28, 1962, Ono married Anthony Cox, an American jazz musician, film producer and art promoter. However, their marriage was annulled on March 1, 1963, because Ono had neglected to finalize her divorce from Ichiyanagi. After finalizing that divorce, Cox and Ono married again on June 6, 1963. On August 8, 1963, Yono gave birth to their daughter Kyoko Chan Cox. The marriage quickly fell apart, and the couple divorced on February 2, 1969.
Later that same year after divorce with Cox, Ono married John Lennon. Their marriage produced one son — Sean Lennon, who would later become a well-known musician. The following year after Lennon's death, Yono married Sam Havadtoy, an interior designer, with whom she separated in 2002.
Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies
This lyrical biography explores the life and art of Yoko Ono from her childhood to her avant-garde visual art and experimental music.
