Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono is a multi-media artist whose thought-provoking work challenges people’s understanding of art and the world around them. From the beginning of her career, she has been a conceptualist with work that encompasses performance, instructions, film, music, and writing.  

Yoko Ono was born in Tokyo in 1933, and moved to New York in 1953, following her studies in philosophy in Japan. By the late 50s, she had become part of the city’s vibrant avant-garde activities. In 1960, she opened her Chambers Street loft to a series of radical performance work, and realizations of some of her early conceptual works. In 1961, she had a one-person show at the legendary AG Gallery in New York of her Instruction Paintings. Later that year, she performed a solo concert at Carnegie Recital Hall of revolutionary works involving movement, sound, and voice. In 1962, she returned to Tokyo, where she extended her New York performance and exhibited her Instructions for Paintings at the Sogetsu Art Center. In 1964 Yoko Ono performed Cut Piece in Kyoto and Tokyo, and published her conceptual art book, Grapefruit. In 1965 and 1966, she performed a second concert at Carnegie Recital Hall, participated in the Perpetual Fluxus Festival, exhibited The Stone at the Judson Gallery, and made the first version of Film No. 4 (Bottoms), among numerous other works. In the summer of 1966, she was invited to take part in the Destruction in Art Symposium in London. She held one-person exhibitions at the Indica Gallery as well as at Lisson Gallery in the following year. During this period, she also performed a number of concerts throughout England. In 1969, together with John Lennon, she realized Bed-In, and the worldwide War Is Over! (if you want it) campaign for peace. 

Ono has made a number of films, including Fly and “RAPE.” She has also made many records, including Fly, Approximately Infinite Universe, and Rising.