IK! - John Lennon Art - Traverse City Real Love Exhibit, July 7 and 8, 2001

LISTEN TO THE ART...In Traverse City, Michigan

(Entered July 8, 2001)

On July 7 and 8, 2001, John Lennon's art and song lyrics were on display at the historic Traverse City Opera House downtown.

Tom and I visited the show about 3 hours after it officially opened on Saturday and already, the large bowl for Operation Smile donations was filled with $20's and other cash. (Operation Smile is a charitable organization which provides facial reconstruction surgery for children.)

The photo at left is a billboard which was on the sidewalk outside the Opera House. The exhibit opened on the same day as the Traverse City Cherry Festival, which attracts thousands of people to the area - and which I'm sure will help in the Operation Smile fund-raising effort.

Visitors to the exhibit were given a brochure (see photo right - click to view larger version)...which detailed the artwork on display and listed the prices. For people who couldn't afford to buy the large works, there were t-shirts, a softcover catalog with John's self-portrait backed by a sky-clouds scene, reproductions of the hand-written lyric sheets and the Real Love book was on sale for $13.00. On the front of the brochure is this message from Yoko: YOU ARE HERE "I first met John in 1966 at an art show I was doing in London. He climbed a stepladder to read the tiny three-letter word I put on the ceiling: 'yes' We instantly recognized each other as soul mates. We were married in 1969 and remained together until his death in 1980. It was always John's dream that his art be shown and accepted for what it is. Thanks to you that dream has become a reality. Listen to t he art..I hope that you enjoy the show...." Signed, Yoko Ono Lennon
	The City Opera House's cathedral ceilings, paintings and scrollwork everywhere on the walls and ceilings created an almost church-like effect in the room where John's art was being shown - and the visitors seemed to be viewing the art with a sense of reverence. Perhaps that's not the effect John would want for his often funny, whimsical and outright outrageous art, but it seemed just right on this particular Saturday in July.
I had never been to a John art exhibit like this one - we'd been to the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame and viewed John's hand-written lyrics and other artwork, but I wasn't sure how this more commercial show would be set up. I was pleasantly surprised to see the love and care that had gone in to arranging the pieces, lighting them artistically, and the special touch of a long-stemmed rose in-between each Bag One piece along one table. The brochure that was handed out at the entrance to the exhibit room gave a rundown of what art was being displayed. "John's primary medium was line drawing, either pen, pencil or Japanese sumi ink. The limited edition artwork in this exhibition consists of lithographs, serigraphs and copper etchings hand reproduced from the original drawings. Each edition is limited and hand signed by Yoko Ono, and comes with a certificate of authenticity from the Lennon Estate guaranteeing that no more will be released. Also included are very rare Bag One lithographs, signed and numbered by John Lennon." The sale table was quite busy the entire time we were there, with people purchasing individual art works as well as the less expensive t-shirts, books and lyric reproduction sheets. The room's backdrop was a large-screen video monitor showing footage of John in various performances, from the Beatle years and onward. The music and John's voice speaking about various aspects of his art and music were being broadcast out into the street...the music punctuated every few minutes by jets flying over the city in a spectacular Cherry Festival air show. Above us only sky... The visit was memorable, and I came away with a new appreciation of both John's art and all the care that is taken in presenting it to the public. Larry Schwartz was the curator of the show, and he is to be congratulated on a fine job.