Written by Michael Goldstein for THE ARTISTS FORUM MAGAZINE
Edited by Amos White V for THE ARTISTS FORUM, INC
Photo: Michael Goldstein
REVIEWER RATING:
5 out of 5 stars
YOKO ONO: ONE WOMAN SHOW, 1960-1971 AT MOMA
NEW YORK, NY (June 6, 2015) On May 17th, the Museum of Modern Art presented, for the first time in its run, a special exhibition dedicated solely to the works of Yoko Ono. And what an exhibition it was! Case in point: Immediately as you enter the exhibition, you find yourself staring at Ono’s Apple, literally a single green apple placed on a Plexiglas stand with a small plaque reading “APPLE.” Something like this doesn’t really need an explanation, yet for some reason, you’ll find yourself drawn to the fruit in all its decaying apple-ness. After all, there is a sense of the human’s mortal frame In the decaying frame, something that hypnotizes you into watching it and makes you appreciate its beauty once its gone.
On the sixth floor, behind the apple was an astonishing catalogue of objects, paintings, audios recordings, special interaction pieces, video and film clips, special performance, and works on paper, plenty of memorial pieces and creations that can’t possibly fit in the confines of a single review, mainly because there are simply so many to choose from.
One thing that stood out was the one-of-a-kind gallery To See The Sky, a special collection inspired by the existence for the sky itself, all based on Ono’s belief that the sky is an elemental part of human life. For example, Ono’s Sky Machine asks you to reflect on the air we breath, a basic element that makes up all of us.
As joyful and thoughtful as To See The Sky was, the most intriguing highlight of the exhibition was a whole section of the exhibition dedicate to her famous book of instructions, Grapefruit. All of the book’s 151 texts were displayed in their entirety. Each text was split from the rest and framed, allowing the viewers to study the imaginative and improbable while selecting their favorite ones.
It all comes together to form a fantastic show and tell of Ono’s influence. The gallery wraps up on September seventh, so this summer is the perfect opportunity, when you have the chance, to take a look around at this collection to end all collections.
For more information about the exhibit , visit: moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1494
To purchase Yoko Ono’s book Acorn, go to amazon.com/Acorn-Yoko-Ono
