Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono was born in Japan in 1933. Her family moved back and forth between Japan and the United States with her father's job. She eventually enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College and developed an appreciation for the arts that led to her own art making.

She was one of the artists who belonged to the Fluxus Movement, and worked mainly with performance and conceptual art. She also dabbled in filmmaking and created 16 films in the late sixties and early seventies. Two of her most famous works are "Cut Piece" (1964) and "This is Not Here" (1970). "Cut Piece" was a performance in which she had the audience cut pieces of her clothing from her body until she was naked. "This is Not Here" was an exhibit with a scene from a living room cut in half. She wanted the audience to complete the image in their minds, so that their participation was integral to the art itself. Her first film from 1964 showed from what seems to be the viewer's prospective, as it depicts a walk through a snow storm on the way to the Taj Mahal. The majority of Ono's artwork relied upon the participation of the viewer, whether mentally or physically.

"This is Not Here" 1970



"Cut Piece" 1964



-Meghan Swisher