http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/01/31/1453580/ono-lennons-art-showed-playful.html
Yoko Ono discusses the significance of an exhibit of John Lennon's
artwork, coming to Fort Lauderdale Friday.
BY JULIE LANDRY LAVIOLETTE
Sunday, 01.31.10
To Yoko Ono, John Lennon's art reveals a little-known side of the
legendary Beatles musician.
``He's not really known for his artwork, but it shows the innocent
side of him from his childhood,'' Lennon's wife, Ono, said from Manhattan.
``That's what he tried first -- he went to art school. He was very
proud of that.''
In My Life: The Artwork of John Lennon, an exhibit presented by Ono
and The Las Olas Company, will be on display in Fort Lauderdale
Friday through Feb. 7 in a Las Olas Boulevard storefront.
In the late 1950s, before he helped create The Beatles, Lennon
attended the Liverpool Art Institute. He chronicled his family and
his messages of peace through art his entire life, until his murder
at age 40 in 1980.
``Just like any artist, he was an artist expressing himself, but
still, it was a security blanket,'' Ono, 76, said. ``When he was
feeling depressed or bad, he would go back to his artwork.''
Ono described a spontaneity to his work, whether he was creating music or art.
``He just picked up any paper, sometimes the back of a menu,'' she
said with a laugh. ``Just to get it down. He drew ``when he felt like
it, and it was very fast.''
The 100-piece exhibit includes limited edition prints of sketches and
cartoons from several phases of Lennon's life, including
self-portrayals as a husband and a family man, and a series of animal
drawings he did for his son, Sean.
``He didn't even know he would be that kind of father, but he
discovered that he could communicate that way with Sean -- to show
Sean something, and make Sean wonder about it,'' Ono said. ``To do
this, you have to be an artist, but you have to want to communicate
with your son in that way.
``He was really excited about that. It was very joyful for him and he
was proud of that.''
Some of Lennon's artwork is from Bag One, a series depicting Lennon's
marriage and honeymoon that was originally a wedding present to Ono.
When Bag One was exhibited in 1970, police raids shut down some shows
because of erotic content.
Ono said she looks at intimate moments revealed in Bag One from an
artist's perspective.
``I was an artist, too, and it was normal to have pornographic
content, the nudity, the sex,'' Ono said. ``I was very impressed with
the lines, so incredibly professional and beautiful. After, when it
was scrutinized, I started to question. . . . But in the art world it
was never questioned. In the real world it was different.''
The pieces are tame in comparison to today's standards, said Rudy
Siegel of Legacy Productions, which stages the show, noting the
exhibit is appropriate for all ages.
The exhibit spans Lennon's art from 1964 to 1980, and includes
limited edition prints of his handwritten song lyrics. Ono started
the exhibit 17 years ago, and it visits about 20 venues a year. Works
are priced from $200 to $20,000.
With the tunes of Lennon and The Beatles piped in overhead, the
exhibits have become gathering places for longtime fans.
``These exhibits are free meeting places for people to see John's
messages of peace and love expressed through his artwork,'' Siegel
said. ``The overall feeling in the room is of togetherness. All
different kinds of people come out with the common bond of John Lennon.''
For some, the combination of music and art fuels an emotional journey.
``The music is definitely the tie that bonds everything together,
because the songs are so recognizable,'' Siegel said. ``We put up 20
to 25 pieces with the song lyrics,and people read along or sing
along. They remember the first time they heard it, and they get very
emotional.''
Ono said the show's enduring popularity was unexpected.
``I didn't think it would go that long. But the reason was not only
to show what he was able to do, but to give people encouragement . .
. to make them think `I can do that,' '' Ono said. ``There is a sense
of humor and warmth in his artwork. Most artists are very serious --
not John. He had a very playful side. People like that.''
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