John Lennon & Yoko Ono(1940-1980), JOHN LENNON; In his lifetime, John Lennon, the artist, remained an outsider to the art world, largely because of his fame as a Beatle and how he was viewed by the world as a result of it. In hindsight, that was fortunate, in the sense that it allowed his works to maintain their purity free from comments and ‘suggestions’ by critics and dealers. He maintained his unique style, untouched by the trends.
John Lennon & Yoko Ono(1940-1980), JOHN LENNON; In his lifetime, John Lennon, the artist, remained an outsider to the art world, largely because of his fame as a Beatle and how he was viewed by the world as a result of it. In hindsight, that was fortunate, in the sense that it allowed his works to maintain their free from comments and ‘suggestions’ by critics and dealers. He maintained his unique style, untouched by the trends.
John did his drawings with inspiration and speed, very much like how he created his songs. It was obvious that there was a strong, innate need for John to keep creating these works. Most of the time the drawings reflected his mood. Though once, when John was in a dark mood, I looked over his shoulder and found him drawing a very funny picture. Another time, John was in a happy mood, drawing a picture with black humour. Only John would do that, I thought. It was as though John was using the act of drawing to balance and unite his two minds – one, the dark and pessimistic, and the other, the joyful and optimistic. Along with his guitar, pen and paper seemed to have served as ideal tools to express John’s complex emotions.
Now, there is no difficulty in getting galleries to exhibit John’s artwork. In fact, some of his works have become part of the collections of major museums. I wonder what John would have thought of all that. He would have accepted it with his usual wry humour, maybe.
John Lennon & Yoko Ono(1940-1980)YOKO ONO; At its inception Ono and Lennon’s relationship was both romantic and artistic. In a meet cute worthy of a romantic comedy, Lennon and Ono met at a gallery where Ono’s work was being exhibited. Their first conversation centered on art; Lennon asked to participate in her piece, “Hammer in a Nail” and she said no. She didn’t know who the Beatles were, but the two eventually came to an agreement: Lennon would hammer in an invisible nail in exchange for an invisible five shillings.Thus, one can easily say that artistic collaboration was at the core of Lennon and Ono’s connection, a companionship that materialized itself in art performances, album records, and a dedication to the promotion of global peace.
