Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono

     During the 20th century there were countless amount of inspirational and impactful women in the art society. Ever since birth she was surrounded by various types of arts. Yoko was born in the year of 1933 in February 18th. She was brought into this world in Japan into a wealthy Japanese family connected to art. Her father was happened to be a classical pianist and this happened to encourage Yoko to begin learning how to play the piano at an early age. Her childhood wasn't the most pleasant one due to her family being constantly relocated back and forth between Japan and United States of America.
   

“Art is my life, and my life is art.”

-Yoko Ono

   When Yoko Ono was 2 years old she moved to San Francisco and was able to see her father for the first time. However her family's stay in San Francisco was cut short due to the Pearl Harbor, which prompted them to move back to Japan. Only in the 1950's is when Yoko was able to move back to the United States of America and begin her studies. She moved to New York and attended a school by the name of Sarah Lawrence College, where she began to study performance arts. This had such a dramatic impact on Yoko that she then produced the performance called "Cut Piece" only a little over 10 years after of moving to New York.

Cut Piece - 1964

     Since Yoko Ono was more intrigued by performance art, her typical medium used in her art was a visual performance where her body was an import piece to it. Touching upon "Cut Piece" Yoko  was able to portray such an empowering fearless attitude that other women looked up to her for that. She decided to sit on a stage and let all the visitors walk up to her and cut a piece of her clothing of. This turned the Male Gaze physically because she was allowing men to physically touch her and reveal her skin slowly with every piece of clothing cut. 

     

      The most important thing of this performance art was that Yoko Ono was able to keep her composure through out the whole presentation and didn't even react to the people cutting her clothes and revealing her skin. This was a prime example of her trying to give women the ability and power to stand up to anything and anyone and not be afraid of their own skin. This also demonstrated the idea of gender roles and what is acceptable in the 20th century. 

Cut Piece 1964

      To add a little more background to the artistic side of Yoko Ono, she was also married to the famous Beatles player John Lennon. They first met in 1966 and three years later they finally said "I Do" to one another. While married, they joined both their artistic sides and collaborated on various projects together. One famous project that was known from the both of them was "bed-in" while they were on their honeymoon in 1969. The hour long video posted underneath is the whole project starring both John Lennon and Yoko Ono, watch and enjoy.

                  Bed in for Peace - Yoko Ono & John Lennon

Bibliography

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th ed. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1990.          Print.

"Yoko Ono Biography." Yoko Ono. Biography Channel, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.

"Yoko Ono Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.