The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA Chicago) has launched the exhibition Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind, marking the artist’s first major retrospective in the United States. This extensive showcase features over 200 works that span 70 years of Ono’s innovative career, emphasizing her contributions to art, music, and activism. The exhibition is open to the public until February 22, 2026.
The retrospective chronicles Ono’s artistic journey from the mid-1950s, highlighting her influential role within avant-garde movements across New York, Tokyo, and London. Known for her pioneering “instruction pieces,” Ono was a key figure in the Fluxus collective, an experimental art movement that emerged in the early 1960s. The exhibition features significant works from her career, including the landmark performance piece “Cut Piece” (1964) and her collaborations with renowned musicians such as John Cage and her late husband, John Lennon.
The exhibition is organized into various sections that include installations, films, music, and archival materials. Among the highlights are activations of Ono’s instruction-based art from her influential book Grapefruit (1964), as well as her notable films from the 1960s and 1970s, such as FLY (1970–71) and the controversial Film No.4 (Bottoms) (1966–67). Recent works like the ongoing Wish Tree installation (1996–present) also showcase her enduring commitment to peace activism.
The exhibition encourages audience participation with several interactive artworks. Pieces such as “Painting to Hammer a Nail” (1961/1966) and “Bag Piece” (1964) invite visitors to engage directly with the art. Later works, including “Add Color (Refugee Boat)” (1960/2016), allow guests to express their hopes and beliefs through written messages on a white boat installation. Another interactive piece, “My Mommy Is Beautiful” (2004), invites visitors to share their thoughts about motherhood by attaching photographs to the installation.
In addition to the exhibition, public activations of Ono’s peace-driven artworks will be featured on billboards throughout Chicago and within the MCA Chicago premises.
Jamillah James, the Manilow Senior Curator at MCA Chicago, expressed the significance of hosting this exhibition, stating, “Yoko Ono is a wildly influential and significant figure in performance, conceptualism, music, and activism. She has inspired generations of audiences to think differently about the everyday and seeing art.”
The exhibition was organized in collaboration with Tate Modern in London and Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf. To learn more about Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind and its offerings, visitors can explore the official website at mcachicago.org.
