The Vancouver Art Gallery presents
GROWING FREEDOM: The instructions of Yoko Ono /
The art of John and Yoko
An acclaimed survey exhibition of the visionary and pioneering artist
featuring the art and activism of Yoko Ono and John Lennon
October 7, 2021, VANCOUVER, BC // Traditional Coast Salish Lands including the Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm), Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw) and Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ) Nations
The Vancouver Art Gallery presents GROWING FREEDOM: The instructions of Yoko Ono / The art of John and Yoko from October 9, 2021, to May 2, 2022, a major survey exhibition that celebrates the work of the renowned conceptual and performance artist. GROWING FREEDOM underscores the cornerstones of action, participation, and imagination in the work of Yoko Ono and examines the collaborative works she undertook with her late husband John Lennon.
GROWING FREEDOM: The instructions of Yoko Ono / The art of John and Yoko is a major exhibition organized in two parts. The first section focuses on Ono’s instruction works, which break down barriers between artistic disciplines and emphasize her radical approach to art-making. By inviting the viewer to participate in the artistic process, she not only creates works that continue to grow and change but also thwarts the conventions of the art market. Exhibited works include pieces that invite the visitor to complete the work, through actions such as mending broken ceramics (MEND PIECE, 1966/2021), hammering nails into a canvas (PAINTING TO HAMMER A NAIL,1966/2021) and writing about their mothers on a sticky note and attaching it to the gallery wall (MY MOMMY IS BEAUTIFUL, 2004/2021). Other works solicit participation from outside the institution including WATER EVENT (1971/2021), which will feature the participation of local Indigenous artists, and ARISING (2013/2021), which is comprised of testaments of harm from individuals who self-identify as women.
The second part of the exhibition presents an arc of collaborative projects for peace undertaken by Ono and Lennon. Among these are the WAR IS OVER! (If you want it) peace campaign (1969) and the BED-IN FOR PEACE (1969). Through an approach that spotlights storytelling and privileges listening, this section of GROWING FREEDOM also features the stories of various people who participated in Ono and Lennon’s art projects, told in their own voices and words.
“The work of Yoko Ono is important to the history of 20th and 21st-century art in many ways,” states Anthony Kiendl, CEO and Director of Vancouver Art Gallery, “This exhibition allows visitors a first-hand experience of these renowned works, including Ono’s collaborations with John Lennon. In these works, we witness a blueprint for subsequent crossovers between contemporary art and popular culture that has come to epitomize our times. This work is truly innovative, and we are immensely pleased to share it with our communities.”
Through this select survey of instructions and performance pieces, the exhibition imparts Yoko Ono’s massive impact on contemporary art practices, the reception of art, and activism through art. The urgency and spirit of the works in this exhibition are perhaps more pertinent and important than ever.
GROWING FREEDOM: The instructions of Yoko Ono / The art of John and Yoko is organized by the Phi Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montréal, and curated by Gunnar B. Kvaran and Cheryl Sim.
Visitors are encouraged to bring headphones to access audio content throughout the exhibition. A limited quantity of disposable headphones will be available at the admissions desk.
