3.5 out of 5.0 stars3.5

ArtNomads’ review of “Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind: exhibition at Tate Modern, London, 2024

As part of our first art adventure in London in March of 2024, we of course included visits to the Tate Modern museum. The Tate is generally listed as one of the Top 10 Things to Do In London, by almost any blog, whether its focused on art travel and adventures or not.

Over the span of two days, we saw pretty much every exhibit and artwork it on display at the Tate. One of the major exhibitions was a solo retrospective exhibition entitled “Yoko Ono : Music of the Mind”.

We should start with a disclaimer: Mr. Nomads has never been a fan of Yoko Ono.

I had very little understanding of Yoko or her artwork other than her noise screaming recordings and that she is often blamed for breaking up The Beatles. Both things kept me from learning more.

“Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” at Tate Modern does a bit to change that.

Ono’s backstory & Inspiration

It helped learning that Yoko was a young child in Tokyo during WWII and her experience became central to both her anti-war activism and the conceptual nature of her art. Seeing the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would certainly explain her lifelong advocacy for peace. The show’s title, “Music of the Mind” refers to her conceiving of music (and visuals) when there was none around her, in order to create some escape for her and her brother from the sounds and visions of bombs and suffering.

What you’ll see

This mental visioning led to Yoko’s later creation of conceptual artworks, particularly her Instructions for Paintings. In 1964, Ono published Grapefruit, a book of instructions for creating paintings and other artworks only in one’s mind; this book is said to have inspired John Lennon to write Imagine. (In fact, Ono received a belated songwriting credit in 2017). Some of these instructions are presented in the exhibition as framed works (which sort of undermines the concept, but…).

I generally have a hard time with such conceptual art. On the other hand, I’m kind of a fan of Fluxus (at least what I’ve experienced to date). In this exhibit, Yoko’s Instructions for Paintings left me cold. I did admire her Tape of the Snow Falling at Dawn series, which honors the Fluxus oeuvre by being blank. And it was apparently a decent seller, at $0.5/inch (in 1965).

I also respected Yoko’s vulnerability in Cut Piece, whereby she allows viewers to approach and cut off bits of her clothing, with results that probably aren’t unexpected today, but apparently was then.

Yoko says: Be a part of the art

There are works to step on (really, Yoko insists), a bottle to tip and drip, a bag you can wear and dance or writhe in, a wall to trace your friends’ shadows on. I passed on these experiences. Along with hundreds of others, we tied a piece of hair to a nail and I pounded it into a ‘canvas’. Why? I don’t know, seemed like the thing to do, and Yoko said to.

I did like Painting To Shake Hands (painting for cowards), and was pleased to see many of the crowd take part.

There were many other participatory elements, again enticing many attendees to take part, even if perhaps they weren’t sure WHY.

The most shared on social media is the Add Colour (Refugee Boat) piece, whereby attendees added messaging and images in blue marker (only) to the floor, walls and a rickety looking watercraft – all intended to call attention to current refugee crises worldwide. We did our part.

More tangible art

Of course there were objects as well. Some worked for us, others did not.

Air Bottles, is a breath-work piece (quite a bit of that going on these days) wherein glass jars ostensibly contained breath she expended while cutting household items in half. I appreciate them primarily as sculptural objects.

My favorite work in the entire show was an ongoing series of drawings entitled Franklin Summer. Billed as automatic drawings, they felt very composed and well-crafted. Some were exquisite. I can now say I would own a piece of art by Yoko Ono (were we not nomadic)!

The biggest d’oh! moment for us is that we failed to snap a pic of the most surreptitiously iconic piece in the exhibit: Apple. So we’ll borrow this one from Yoko and DazedDigital:

This is IT, people. This is how John & Yoko met. She first exhibited this work at a London gallery in 1966. According to Yoko, John took a bite of the one on display, though obviously that’s not what Ono had intended (or… did she??). And the rest, as they say, is history.

Is the exhibit worthwhile?

Overall, “Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” was large, very well-attended, and contained works from every stage and medium from her life as a creative force. Mrs. Nomad particularly appreciated that much of Ono’s early work was feminist in nature. Presented more or less chronologically, the show illuminated how her influences and contemporaries, such as John Cage, shaped her work – or perhaps vice versa, as Yoko is credited with being an inspiration to Fluxus, not the other way around. That’s big.

In fact, there are a number of works that were early in nature. Cut Piece was years before Marina Abramović did her thing. Yoko’s Draw Circle Event is perhaps the earliest participatory mail-art work we’ve seen.

The exhibit does succeed at placing Yoko more firmly in contemporary art’s historical continuum. The problem is, even the works which preceded or inspired others feel slightly… weak. Several of the works and concepts were finished by others for Ono, and others were taken as concepts by other artists who then completed the work more… fully?

It all depends…

Depending on your intent, you can spend 30 minutes to several hours in the show; the Tate has dedicated a LOT of space to it.

Unfortunately, the flow of all that space is problematic. The first rooms are small-ish, but contain a lot of work, most of which is small and has to be viewed up close. Crowding ensues. The incessant toilet flushing of Ono’s Toilet Piece (1961/1971), gets old, *fast*. In fact, it’s downright distracting and off-putting.

Later, the rooms open larger, almost imparting a sense of escape (and perhaps, a dropping of interest level). Mrs. Nomads, in fact, was so drawn to the ladder, video and participatory chess tables that she completely missed Apple and Air Bottles.

There IS a lot to learn here. I gained some respect for Yoko as an artist. All that said, for us, it felt sprawling, uneven, and frankly, too much ado about nothing. I’m not rushing out to buy her albums.

Practical Stuff: When & How to go

“Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” is up now through September 1, 2024 at the Tate Modern in London.

If you choose to go, know that while general admission to the Tate Modern is free, “Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” is considered a “special exhibition”. You need to purchase a separate ticket. We recommend you do the math to see purchasing a membership makes sense; if you also plan on visiting the Tate Britain and taking in other special exhibitions, it might. It did for us. Pro-Tip: You can see a couple free bits from the show downstairs in The Tanks before you decide.

The Tate Modern is located “Bankside” of the Thames in London, and is most closely accessible walking via Millenium Bridge, or taking The Underground (Tube) to the London Bridge stop. It’s open daily from 10:00 to 18:00 including holidays. Pro-Tip #2: If you really want to see all the Tate has to offer, plan to spend a couple partial days so you don’t burn out.