SOHO, NEW YORK.- The new exhibition Grapefruit: Yoko Ono in 1964: Cut Piece, Yamaichi Hall, Kyoto 1964 by Yoko Ono, and curated by Midori Yamamura began on April 2 and willcontinue through May 15 at the Ise Cultural Foundation Gallery. Ise Cultural Foundation is pleased to present the exhibition, "Grapefruit: Yoko Ono in 1964". The first survey of this kind, the exhibition will give an in-depth and comprehensive look at a pivotal year in the career of this internationally acknowledged artist. In 1964, two significant events took place: the collection of her instruction pieces, in the book Grapefruit, an important foundation for Onos body of work; and the artists decision to move back to New York after two years of living and working in Japan. Looking back at her career, in 1999, Ono explained that many of her works were influenced by the fact that she is a woman. However, in her recent exhibitions, Onos early works have been assimilated into the masculinist languages of Conceptualism and Fluxus. Except for Cut Piece, her gender doesnt seem to count among the works made before the gains won by the feminist movement in the 1970s. The exhibitions intent, therefore, is not to impose a certain interpretation on Onos art, but to enable spectators to examine the various cultural, social, and autobiographical elements on displayincluding her autobiographical article My Love, My Conflict, first published in 1974 in a magazine called Bungei Shunjand thus explore her works in her own words as well.
In keeping with the original spirit of 1964, the artists Nancy Hwang, Hiroko Kikuchi, and the artist collective Praxis, respectively, will interpret Onos instructions for Touch Piece, Cut Piece, and Water Piece on three consecutive Saturday evenings during the exhibition.
"Grapefruit: Yoko Ono in 1964" is curated and organized by Midori Yamamura as a part of ISE Cultural Foundations emerging curator series. Yamamura is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at CUNY Graduate Center. The idea for the exhibition arose out of a seminar on Womens Art / Feminist Art taught by Professor Anna C. Chave. The exhibition would not have been possible without Yoko Onos generous cooperation and permission to utilize her materials. Helping shape the exhibition were Jon Hendricks, Professor Chave, Kevin Concannon, Luis H. Francia, Nancy Hwang, Akiko & Taka Iimura, Reiko Tomii, Midori Yoshimoto, and White Noise. It is partially funded by the Japan Foundation, as part of a series of events marking the 150th anniversary of U.S. Japan relations, with fiscal sponsorship by the Asian American Writers Workshop.
