To the light

Right now there is an exhibition with Yoko Ono at the Tomio Koyama Gallery in Tokyo. With hope as a guiding star, Ono's exhibition responds to the aftermath of the great earthquake. In the work TO THE LIGHT (see image) the visitor is invited to follow a dark and mysterious maze that eventually leads to a source of light.

Ono is an artist of great significance in the feminist art discourse in Japan, but of course also in an international context. In the literature surrounding both Japanese women artists as well as the feminist artists she takes a prominent position, often in company with artists like Atsuko Tanaka, Yayoi Kusama, Mieko Shiomi, Shigeko Kubota and Mako Idemitsu.

Here is just one example for further reading:

Midori Yoshimoto, Into performance, Japanese women artists in New York, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutger University Press, 2005.

"Unusually courageous and self-determined, they were among the first Japanese women to leave their country-and its male-dominated, conservative art world-to explore the artistic possibilities in New York. They not only benefited from the New York art scene, however, they played a major role in the development of international performance and intermedia art by bridging avant garde movements in Tokyo and New York. This book traces the pioneering work of these five women artists and the socio-cultural issues that shaped their careers. Into Performance also explores the transformation of these artists' lifestyle from traditionally confined Japanese women to internationally active artists. Yoshimoto demonstrates how their work paved the way for younger Japanese women artists who continue to seek opportunities in the West today."
/Rutger University Press