I have never been overly familiar with Ono's artwork in the past but my lovely wife has studied her work and learned more about her over the years and when she saw that Chicago would be the only city in the States to show this exhibit, we booked a trip around this.
Obviously, Yoko is known these days for her relationship with John Lennon, but she was an renown artist in her own right for years before they met (the poster for her show where they met is shown below) and had worked with musical and artistic giants like John Cage, LaMonte Young, Rauschenberg and many more. While she worked in multiple media, she was mostly known as a performance artist with famous pieces such as "Cut Piece" (which was shown on video) and "Bag Piece" (which in this exhibit allowed the visitors to enclose themselves as their own piece). She also conceptualized physical pieces, in which the galleries could create their own works based on her descriptions - these were shown in the exhibit, as well as some of the creations) or the visitors could create their own works based on her prompts.
There was much more humor than I would have initially expected but also plenty of deeper thought pieces, at least somewhat influenced by Buddhist practices. Of course, some were simply silly and some were a bit much one way or another, but most were entertaining and there were many interactive bits, from simply listening to audio to immersing yourself in a bag to repairing broken pottery to playing single-color chess to pounding nails to drawing and much, much more.
Of course, Lennon is mentioned, but cleverly, at the end of the exhibit so that he does not overshadow her work, and there is a small section for the records that she did on her own and with John.
There was much more than I can remember or that I took photos of and on the day that we went there were separate interactives for kids (2 youngsters from my family accompanied us), which they quite enjoyed.
If you find yourself in the Chicago area between now and February, this is highly recommended if you have any interest in Yoko or just the avant art scene of the 50's and 60's (and beyond). And, the museum and staff were all super helpful and personable, as well.
