MoMA
Posts tagged ‘instruction paintings’
July 15, 2015  |  Artists, Collection & Exhibitions
Happy (Belated) Birthday to Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit
Installation view of Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, May 17–September 7, 2015. © 2015 The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Thomas Griesel

Installation view of Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, May 17–September 7, 2015. © 2015 The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Thomas Griesel

Two weeks ago, while the United States was marking its 239th birthday, The Museum of Modern Art was celebrating the 51st birthday of Yoko Ono’s iconic artist’s book Grapefruit (1964), a compendium of her instruction-based artwork. The book holds special significance for the Museum, as it was one of the first works by Ono acquired by MoMA, and it is currently on view in the exhibition Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971.

July 14, 2010  |  Artists, Collection & Exhibitions
From a Whisper to a Scream: Following Yoko Ono’s Instructions
Yoko Ono. Selections from Whisper Piece (four of sixteen total; installation view at The Museum of Modern Art). 2010. Pen on wall, dimensions variable. Collection of the artist. Photo: Jason Persse

Yoko Ono. Selections from Whisper Piece (four shown of sixteen total; installation view at The Museum of Modern Art). 2010. Pen on wall, dimensions variable. Collection of the artist. Photo: Jason Persse

I first heard about Yoko Ono’s so-called “instruction pieces” as a high school student, when a friend told me the (possibly apocryphal, certainly embellished) story of Ono’s first meeting with John Lennon. History according to the poorly fact-checked lunchtime ramblings of rock ‘n’ roll–obsessed seventeen-year-olds: During a visit to London’s Indica Gallery in 1966, Lennon encountered Ono’s Ceiling Painting. Climbing to the top of a tall, white ladder, he used a magnifying glass dangling from a thread to read a message printed in tiny letters on the ceiling: “YES.” Profoundly moved by the work’s unalloyed positivity, he demanded to meet the artist right away.