Back in 1971, Yoko Ono announced an exhibition at New York’s MoMA which she cheekily titled Museum of Modern (F)art. When people arrived at the building, they were greeted outside by a man wearing a sandwich board which proclaimed that Ono’s project involved the release of a swarm of flies. The public were invited to enter the museum and interact with the flies, or follow the ones that had escaped on their journey around the city and their responses were captured on film.
It seems MoMA hasn’t borne a grudge over the irreverent and unauthorised stunt, as Ono is back at the institution for an official event looking back at the decade that led up it. Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960-1971 collects more than 125 works from the period, including works on paper, installations, performances, audio recordings and films. Interactive exhibits feature, such as Painting to Be Stepped On (1960-61) and the groundbreaking performance Bag Piece from 1964. Famous works produced with her husband John Lennon at the end of the decade also make an appearance, such as 1969’s two creations Bed-In and WAR IS OVER! If you want it. The show is on now and will run until 7 September.
Yoko Ono, Japanese, born 1933
Museum of Modern (F)art, 1971
Artist’s book
The Museum of Modern Art Library / Silverman Fluxus Collection
Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971
May 17–September 7, 2015
The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art
Exhibition Gallery, sixth floor
Yoko Ono, Japanese, born 1933
Apple, 1966
Plexiglas pedestal, brass plaque, and apple
45 × 6 11/16 × 6 15/16″ (114.3 × 17 × 17.6 cm)
Private collection
Yoko Ono, Japanese, born 1933
Half-A-Room, 1967
Domestic objects cut in half, most painted white
Private collection
Painting to See in the Dark (Version 1). 1961.
Installation view with the artist, Paintings & Drawings by Yoko Ono,
AG Gallery, New York, July 17–30, 1961.
Photograph by George Maciunas.
Yoko Ono, Japanese, born 1933
Half-A-Room, 1967
Domestic objects cut in half, most painted white
Private collection
Works by Yoko Ono, poster,
Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, November 24, 1961.
Photograph by George Maciunas. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection Gift, 2008.
© 2014 George Maciunas
Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971
May 17–September 7, 2015
The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art
Exhibition Gallery, sixth floor
Yoko Ono with Standing Woman (1932) by Gaston Lachaise,
The Museum of Modern Art Sculpture Garden, New York. c. 1960–61.
Photograph by Minoru Niizuma. © Minoru Niizuma.
Courtesy Lenono Photo Archive, New York
Yoko Ono, Japanese, born 1933
Bag Piece, performed during Perpetual Fluxfest,
Cinematheque, New York, June 27, 1965
Gelatin silver print, 2015
image: 7 1/2 × 7 1/2″ (19 × 19 cm);
sheet: 9 15/16 × 8″ (25.2 × 20.3 cm)
The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection Gift
Yoko Ono. Cut Piece. 1964.
Performed by Yoko Ono in New Works of Yoko Ono,
Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, March 21, 1965.
Photograph by Minoru Niizuma. © Minoru Niizuma.
Courtesy Lenono Photo Archive, New York
