Image-Text Review by De Villo Sloan
On Friday, October 4, 2019, I spent the afternoon at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York, experiencing & contemplating Yoko Ono's Remembering the Future exhibition.
Many of Ono's classic pieces (or concepts) are represented & are familiar to those who know her work & Fluxus in general. Yet this particular event has a specific point of relevance & a corresponding mantle of history, nostalgia & reflection that is draped over the often austere minimalism.
Fifty years ago the Everson Museum hosted Ono's first solo exhibition. John Lennon accompanied his wife & both mixed with the throngs of visitors & they participated in interactive art activities; the scene was bedlam. I grew up near Syracuse & the show occurred when I was a kid & could not go, but I remember the substantial media coverage & tales from people who were lucky enough to attend. John & Yoko at the Everson became a local legend.
So for me, a half century later, the spirit of Fluxus hovered over the current exhibit with a still watchful eye. The gallery rooms (few people were there on a Friday afternoon), resonated time portal & interpretive layers.
Thus for this particular piece, I will not engage in art criticism, theory or cultural meditation in any conventional sense. I will not even attempt to express my own thought associations. I will let my all-too inadequate images communicate what they will to viewers & add minimal commentary when the mood strikes.
- De Villo Sloan
Visitors are greeted by dirt piles - an Ono & Fluxus staple that is anti-art
& were a precursor to earth sculpture.
Event scores "9 concert pieces for John Cage" from the 1960s
are included & my favorite part of the exhibit.
Also some paired works; Yoko Ono is definitely an image-text artist.
What would a Yoko Ono or Fluxus show be without ladders!
An entire room of ladders at the Everson
Ono earth cone shoe gazing to remember the future
A room was dedicated to the Refugee Boat installation,
which has appeared at other venues & is already iconic
(end part 1)
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