Last night Yoko Ono and many others attended the opening of an exhibit dedicated to the late John Lennon entitled John Lennon: The New York City Years. The exhibit features many never before seen items from Ono's personal collection. The exhibit also speaks out about gun violence and ask viewers to add their names to a petition that will be sent to President Obama once the exhibit closes. I highly recommend checking this beautiful and truly inspiring exhibit out.
Check out the full story below...
Yoko Ono unveils John Lennon exhibit in NYC
Updated 16h 57m ago | Comments 10 | Recommend 1 E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this
All she is saying: Yoko Ono gives a peace sign a chance at the opening of John Lennon: The New York City Years exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in New York on Monday.
Enlarge image Enlarge By Lucas Jackson, Reuters
All she is saying: Yoko Ono gives a peace sign a chance at the opening of John Lennon: The New York City Years exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in New York on Monday.
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — "John was in love with this city, head over heels," Yoko Ono said Monday of her late husband, the subject of John Lennon: The New York City Years, a new exhibit that launched Monday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC.
Speaking at the annex in downtown Manhattan, Ono said it was "very important for me to make this New York City show complete." To do so, she and curator Jim Henke tapped into collections honoring Lennon at both the Hall of Fame?s museum in Cleveland and the John Lennon Museum in Japan. "And I went through my closet again," Ono said.
The exhibit chronicles not only Lennon's enduring love affair with the Big Apple, but also the trials he faced and his violent death. The ex-Beatle's battle against deportation during the Nixon era, when his anti-war activism was considered suspect, is documented with his green card and previously unseen letters from supporters ranging from Joan Baez to former New York mayor John Lindsay.
There's also a billboard featuring Lennon?s blood-splattered glasses that marked the 20th anniversary of his death. (Ono used the same image on the cover of her 1981 album Season of Glass.)
The decision to include that item "was pretty hard," Ono said. "I thought I might be criticized for it.. .. But it's very important now for people to understand what violence is about."
The discussion was generally lighter, with Ono referring several times to Henke, the Hall of Fame's vice president of exhibitions and curatorial affairs, who sat beside her. "I'm not a curator, I'm just a sideshow," Ono quipped.
Ono noted that Lennon enjoyed the "element of anything goes" in New York, and that she doesn't agree with New Yorkers who lament how the city has changed in recent decades: "Change is New York. I accept that. I've gone through so many changes here."
Speaking after the conference, Ono observed that New York "meant freedom to (Lennon) in some ways. I think he realized even London had elements of conservatism, but here he felt freer. That's why when he came here, it was, 'Whoopee! I'm in New York.' "
In homage to the city that never sleeps, the annex will extend its hours while showing John Lennon: The New York City Years, which as yet has no official end date. The exhibit will be open Sundays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
