Yoko Ono: Between the Sky and My Head

In 1965, The New York Times called Tokyo-born, New York-based Fluxus artist Yoko Ono “a one person culture explosion”. In this generous volume, Ono presents instruction pieces from 1961 to the present, including three scores from her iconic 1964 artist’s book, Grapefruit — “Drinking Piece for Orchestra”, “Bicycle Piece for Orchestra” and “Painting to Be Slept On” — which are republished here for the first time. Ono has explained the origin of these works: “…sometimes for financial reasons, sometimes for technical difficulties, I could never realize all the ideas which were literally bombarding me. But now, I could just write instructions. It freed me”. Also included are more than 100 drawings from Franklin Summer, a series begun in 1994, comprising 1,400 inkblot drawings on paper, and Vertical Memory (1997)-dedicated to Ono’s father-a photograph in 21 parts depicting a distorted face. The piece, which Ono considers her best, is a culmination of her life’s work.