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by Eva Lake/Greenwich Village Gazette As a teeny bopper I mourned the breakup of the Beatles of course. But for me that never computed into a hatred or resentment of Yoko Ono. Writing a positive piece on the woman can feel like being a defense attorney of an unpopular client!... My own mother was an artist and had a gallery with 3 other women
during the '60s. So an interesting woman, a vocal woman who was creative
and smart and yes well a little pushy was not unusual with me. I was
also lucky enough to be in contact with artists who knew about
performance art and happenings and Fluxus. Who watched weird films by
Warhol but knew that Yoko made them even before that. I was able to view
her as not just John's appendage. Sure, I listened to Ram by Wings
before I could really understand Shaved Fish and Plastic Ono Band. But
later on all those primal screams became some of my favorite stuff. Yoko Ono was never just the woman in John Lennon's life. As a mail/correspondance artist, I even received mailart from Yoko. She was accessible yet totally intellectual and spiritual. After years of malignment and doubts, I'm so glad to see that she is starting to get her due and attention as an artist, first and foremost. In October a major retrospective of her work is opening at the Japan Society in New York and it will travel from there. Yoko sends a positive, exploratory message that we still need to hear. Imagine walking up a long ladder in a big white space to look through a magnifying glass and see the word Yes on the ceiling; to take a long, uphill journey and find that the outcome can be affirmative. This is the art of Ono and indeed the name of the retrospective: Yes Yoko Ono. It includes objects and installation and film and music. While the exhibition focuses on many of the objects she made in the '60s, she continues to make vital pieces of art. Right now in Berlin she has an impressive piece entitled Freight Train, located in a lot by the former East German parliament. The train car is riddled with bullet holes and illuminated from the inside. It refers specifically to 18 Mexicans who perished within a train while attempting to get into the States illegally. But of course the train as a method and a metaphor for moving human cargo is not lost in Germany. "Freight Train' is a reminder of the violence and pain which people all over the world are suffering and, I hope, an inspiration to resist it," Ono said. The freight car moves to Detroit after its Berlin stay. http://www.jpnsoc.org/gallery.htm
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