Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind - MCA Chicago
For the longest time, I have been intrigued by Yoko. I was never truly convinced by people who said she broke up the Beatles, even when I was a child. Perhaps I simply did not like the expressions on their faces when they said it.
When Japan Society organized the YES Yoko Ono exhibition in NY in 2000, I was a student, newly in Chicago, barely keeping my head above water with endless assignments, and there was no way I could go see it. Later, I somehow purchased the exhibition catalogue. In it, I saw her White Chess Set, a chess set composed entirely of white pieces, unlike the conventional black and white.
The moment I read its later title, Play It By Trust, I felt, for the first time, that I understood her art. I was deeply moved and quietly shaken. After that, I read Grapefruit. Even now, I do not know another artist whose approach to art and to the world resonates with me more deeply than Yoko’s.
I spent five hours in the exhibition, with countless moments when I was almost in tears, touched by her trust in people and her belief in hope.
Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind - MCA Chicago
Oct 18, 2025 - Feb 22, 2026
When Japan Society organized the YES Yoko Ono exhibition in NY in 2000, I was a student, newly in Chicago, barely keeping my head above water with endless assignments, and there was no way I could go see it. Later, I somehow purchased the exhibition catalogue. In it, I saw her White Chess Set, a chess set composed entirely of white pieces, unlike the conventional black and white.
The moment I read its later title, Play It By Trust, I felt, for the first time, that I understood her art. I was deeply moved and quietly shaken. After that, I read Grapefruit. Even now, I do not know another artist whose approach to art and to the world resonates with me more deeply than Yoko’s.
I spent five hours in the exhibition, with countless moments when I was almost in tears, touched by her trust in people and her belief in hope.
Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind - MCA Chicago
Oct 18, 2025 - Feb 22, 2026
