Yoko Ono's Early Avant-Garde Career and Conceptual Legacy
Yoko Ono's journey in the art world commenced during the avant-garde movement in New York in the early 1960s. Originally from Tokyo before World War II, she relocated to the United States in 1953, where she attended Sarah Lawrence College. In December 1960, she collaborated with La Monte Young to host a performance event that attracted prominent attendees. Her exhibitions took place at Carnegie Recital Hall and Tokyo's Sogetsu Art Center, and she released her book Grapefruit in 1964. In autumn 1966, she met John Lennon at the Indica Gallery in London, marrying him three years later. Ono's contributions include a mock retrospective at MOMA in 1971, performances with the Plastic Ono Band, and the enduring WAR IS OVER! campaign, promoting public engagement and collaboration in her art.
Key facts
- Yoko Ono's career began in the early 1960s avant-garde scene before meeting John Lennon
- She was born in prewar Tokyo and moved to the U.S. in 1953, studying at Sarah Lawrence College
- In late 1960, she hosted a performance program with La Monte Young in a New York loft
- She presented work at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York and Tokyo's Sogetsu Art Center from 1962 to 1964
- She self-published Grapefruit in 1964, a book of poetic instructions started in the mid-1950s
- She met John Lennon in fall 1966 at London's Indica Gallery and married him in 1969
- She collaborated with Lennon on happenings like the 1969 Bed-In to protest the Vietnam War
- Much of her early work is ephemeral or lost, with remakes exhibited at MOMA
Entities
Artists
- Yoko Ono
- John Lennon
- Toshi Ichiyanagi
- La Monte Young
- Yvonne Rainer
- Robert Morris
- Steve Paxton
- Simone Forti
- Marcel Duchamp
- Jasper Johns
- Robert Rauschenberg
- George Maciunas
Institutions
- Sarah Lawrence College
- Carnegie Recital Hall
- Sogetsu Art Center
- Indica Gallery
- Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
- Plastic Ono Band
- AG Gallery
- ArtReview
Locations
- Tokyo
- Japan
- Westchester County
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands
- Montreal
- Canada