ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701240001
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THOMAS ROPP THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC
Yoko Ono will be 64 on Feb. 18.
Hard to believe, probably because we tend to freeze in time the lives of prominent personalities, forever thinking of them in terms of past, glorious sound bites and ancient clippings rather than as real, aging human beings.
Yoko Ono is real. She spends much of her time as she has for years, creating and displaying her multimedia art. She also composes music and performs in son Sean's band, Ima.
In a phone interview from her Dakota apartment in New York, Ono had little to say about herself, but, like a concerned mother anywhere, she was most articulate on the future of 21-year-old Sean.
``Sean is a very musical person,'' Ono said. ``He can play the piano, the guitar, bass guitar and drums. He also writes the words. Basically, he can make a record by himself. We'll see what happens. But I don't push him in that direction so much. One thing I think that is upsetting him is that there's a kind of unspoken expectation where everybody is waiting for his album, you know?''
Of course, Ono will always be connected to her late husband, former Beatle John Lennon, who would be 56 had he not died from an assassin's bullet in 1980. For more than a decade, Ono has assiduously been pushing for the world to take a more serious look at Lennon as artist and not just as musician. She has done this by personally selecting the pieces that are shown in the John Lennon Art Exhibition, a show that has been on tour throughout the country since 1986.
Even Lennon's biggest fans are often surprised to learn that he began drawing long before he played guitar. Lennon attended the prestigious Liverpool Art Institute for three years before the Beatles became a full-time occupation. In his lifetime, he also published books with his drawings and had gallery shows.
By 1970, Lennon was more focused on his art than ever, an often overlooked factor that may have contributed to his separation from Paul, Ringo and George.
Lennon privately created and cataloged about 1,700 line drawings. Typically, they are small and done in pen and ink. Most are autobiographical and either reflect quiet moments in his life, such as feeding Sean, or focus on Lennon's philosophy, as in the 1977 drawing ``Imagine All the People,'' which depicts Lennon sitting on top of the world, contemplating why we can't get along.
His style is often characterized as simple and cartoonish, but Ono believes it's more than that.
``Animation is a very accepted form of drawing,'' Ono said. ``People like George Grosz made a fantastic name from it. Also the graffiti artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat used that method. John used it a long time before them.''
Ono said Lennon drew the same way he wrote songs: frenetically. Had he lived, she believes he would have embraced the modern technology of computer graphics.
``Oh, right away,'' Ono said. ``He also enjoyed doing things by hand. He was one of those people who went for the old methods and the new methods.''
Ono said both the music and art of her late husband were profoundly influenced by his omnifarious interests, including metaphysics and UFOs.
``John was interested in all aspects of the mysteries of life,'' Ono said.
Lennon's artworks are hand-stamped in red with a chop (a trademark used by artists in the Orient) he designed to read, ``Like a cloud, beautiful sound.''
Ono believes this chop represents a kind of bridge between his music and art.
``When you say sound, it doesn't necessarily have to relate to music,'' Ono said. ``It could mean there was a certain kind of rhythm and conceptual sound in his artwork, as well.''
The ``John Lennon Art Exhibition'' is produced by the Pacific Edge Gallery of Laguna Beach, Calif. Curator Richard E. Horowitz said the Scottsdale show will feature more than 80 serigraphs, signed lithographs and original drawings.
``There are a number of new editions that have come out over the last several years,'' Horowitz said. ``One is called `Power to the People,' which is a drawing John did of himself as the Statue of Liberty. It's a fun yet powerful drawing.''
Another, called ``Mind Games,'' is a self-portrait Lennon did while he and Ono were making two short films, ``Smile Film Number Five'' and ``Two Virgins.''
There will also be a world premiere with ``Fame,'' a drawing of Lennon and Ono running in opposite directions while being pursued by a gaggle of autograph-seekers.
``We're also going to have 20 limited editions of song lyrics in John's handwriting,'' Horowitz said.
Until the late '80s, Ono traveled with the show.
``But she felt she was taking away from the show,'' Horowitz said. ``I went to a show that she was at, and there had to be at least a thousand people in line to see her and not the artwork.''
In 1972, Ono and Lennon appeared as co-hosts on ``The Mike Douglas Show,'' a week that Ono now recalls with a mixture of nostalgia and chagrin. On one of the shows, Lennon talked about creativity, and how we're all born with it. But Lennon couldn't explain how some people, like himself, rise so far beyond the norm.
Ono believes that Lennon's generous, creative nature had much to do with ``the innate'' as well as with his early years.
``The childhood environment in John's case was not necessarily a happy one,'' Ono said. ``There was a lot of tragedy involved. His mother died when he was young, and his father left him when he was young. But that kind of environment might have stimulated him into becoming a very insightful person and very tolerant, as well.
``Some people are just lucky enough to be given some power, probably to use for the good of the world. And I think John had it.''
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Yoko Onoby CNB