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7 Radical Ways Yoko Ono's 'Music Of The Mind' Exhibition Is Rewriting Art History In 2025

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The art world is currently undergoing a massive and long-overdue re-evaluation of one of its most polarizing and influential figures: Yoko Ono. For decades, her revolutionary work was often overshadowed by her marriage to John Lennon, but the monumental, traveling retrospective, "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind," is finally cementing her legacy as a true pioneer of Conceptual Art, Fluxus, and performance art.

Opening at The Broad in Los Angeles in May 2025 and moving to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago in October 2025, this comprehensive exhibition, which originated at the Tate Modern, covers seven decades of Ono's career, presenting her instruction pieces, films, and installations to a new generation. This article, updated for , delves into the seven most radical ways this exhibition is shifting the cultural narrative and establishing Yoko Ono's rightful place in art history.

Yoko Ono: Artist, Musician, and Activist Profile

  • Full Name: Yoko Ono (小野 洋子)
  • Born: February 18, 1933
  • Birth City/Country: Tokyo, Japan
  • Education: Gakushuin School (Tokyo), Sarah Lawrence College (New York)
  • Key Art Movements: Fluxus, Conceptual Art, Performance Art, Avant-garde
  • Best Known For: Groundbreaking Instruction Pieces, *Cut Piece* (1964), *Ceiling Painting (Yes Painting)* (1966), Experimental Music, Peace Activism (with John Lennon), and the *Imagine Peace Tower*.
  • Spouse (Notable): John Lennon (1969–1980)
  • Current Residence: New York City, USA

1. Reclaiming the Narrative: Beyond "Mrs. Lennon"

For too long, Yoko Ono's artistic identity was inextricably linked to, and often eclipsed by, her relationship with John Lennon. The "Music of the Mind" exhibition directly challenges this historical bias, deliberately foregrounding her work from the 1950s and early 1960s—years before she met Lennon.

The retrospective highlights her pivotal role in the New York avant-garde scene of the early 1960s, a period where she was admired by figures like George Maciunas, the founder of the Fluxus movement.

By showcasing her early works, such as the pieces first exhibited at Maciunas's AG Gallery in 1961, the exhibition positions Ono not as a footnote to rock history, but as a central, independent figure who fundamentally shaped the trajectory of Conceptual Art.

2. Cementing the Legacy of Instruction Art

The core of Ono’s practice, and the true "Music of the Mind," lies in her *Instruction Pieces*. These are not traditional paintings or sculptures, but simple, poetic, and often humorous written instructions that the audience is invited to complete, either physically or purely in their imagination. This radical approach democratized art, shifting the focus from the finished object to the idea and the participant's experience.

The exhibition features seminal examples of this genre, including:

  • *Ceiling Painting (Yes Painting)* (1966): The famous piece where Lennon first met Ono. It requires the participant to climb a ladder to read the word "YES" painted on the ceiling—a powerful, optimistic instruction.
  • *Apple* (1966): A simple, real apple placed on a pedestal, meant to rot over time. The instruction is simply to observe the process, prompting a meditation on time, consumption, and decay.
  • *Water-Piece* (1964): An instruction to imagine a container of water, demonstrating that the artwork exists entirely within the viewer’s mind.

This focus on Instruction Art demonstrates Ono’s commitment to a less egocentric, more democratic form of art, where the viewer's mind is the primary medium.

3. The Shock and Power of Performance Art

No discussion of Yoko Ono’s work is complete without her groundbreaking performance art, which is powerfully featured in the exhibition through documentation and film. The most famous example, and perhaps her most challenging work, is *Cut Piece* (1964).

In this performance, Ono sat silently on a stage, inviting audience members to come up and cut away pieces of her clothing until she was nearly naked. This act was a raw exploration of vulnerability, gender, and the objectification of the female body—themes that remain acutely relevant today.

The inclusion of the film documentation of *Cut Piece* in "Music of the Mind" serves as a stark reminder of her fearless avant-garde sensibility, linking her directly to contemporary artists who explore participatory and endurance performance art.

4. Redefining the Avant-Garde with Fluxus and Film

Ono’s work is a cornerstone of the international Fluxus movement, which rejected the commercialization of art and championed an anti-art aesthetic that embraced everyday life, humor, and simplicity. Her early collaborations and exhibitions with George Maciunas were crucial to the movement's development in New York.

The exhibition also highlights her innovative filmmaking, particularly the 1970–71 film *Fly*. This film, which features a fly exploring a woman's naked body, is a mesmerizing and unsettling piece of cinematic poetry that explores themes of intimacy, scale, and the natural world, further demonstrating her diverse multimedia practice.

5. The Ongoing Impact on Contemporary Art

The traveling exhibition, especially the stops at major US institutions like The Broad and MCA Chicago through 2026, ensures that Ono’s influence continues to resonate with contemporary artists and audiences.

Her work directly paved the way for participatory art, relational aesthetics, and the use of text and language as art forms. Artists working with themes of social justice, peace activism, and interactive installations can trace their lineage directly back to Ono’s radical instruction pieces and public projects like the *Imagine Peace Tower* in Iceland.

6. A Celebration of Her Music and Sound Art

While the visual art is the main focus, "Music of the Mind" also delves into Ono’s groundbreaking sound art. Her experimental music, often characterized by wild shrieks, unconventional instrumentation, and primal vocalizations, was initially met with widespread derision.

Today, however, critics and musicians recognize her as a visionary whose work predated and influenced punk, new wave, and noise music. The exhibition contextualizes these sound pieces, showing them as a natural extension of her conceptual practice—a direct, unfiltered expression of the mind, much like her instruction pieces.

7. An Essential Look at Her Activism and Global Reach

The final, crucial element of the retrospective is its emphasis on Ono the Activist. Her lifelong commitment to peace, which she famously amplified through her collaborations with John Lennon (such as the *Bed-Ins for Peace*), is presented as an integral part of her art.

For Ono, art and activism are not separate; the instruction to "Imagine Peace" is perhaps her most widely distributed and enduring piece of conceptual art. By celebrating her 70-year career across continents—from her early years in Tokyo and New York to her global influence—the "Music of the Mind" exhibition confirms her status as a global cultural force whose innovative approach to language, participation, and peace continues to inspire and challenge the world.

7 Radical Ways Yoko Ono's 'Music of the Mind' Exhibition is Rewriting Art History in 2025
music of the mind yoko ono
music of the mind yoko ono

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