View of the exhibition“… Come to see and you will realize that all my creative work is there: art, music and performance. Only your participation is needed. At this moment it may be something mysterious to you, but when you come and participate in it, you will know that it belongs to you. Have fun with it and remember that you and I are creating together. All works are vibrating with the joy of being in Buenos Aires, and they sing: dream come true, dream come true.”
Unable to travel due to health reasons, Yoko Ono extended this invitation from a screen, thus marking the formal opening of her participatory exhibition Dream Come True in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The exhibition explores Yoko Ono’s long lasting commitment to world peace.
The Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (MALBA) chose Yoko Ono to celebrate its 15th anniversary. The multiple artistic expressions that make up this exhibition seem to transform the art into a kind of manifesto that gathers and brings together three key elements in the artist’s life: the fight for women’s rights, the imperative need to respect the planet and her already mythical struggle for world peace.
Two passionate connoisseurs of the work of Yoko Ono; Norwegian Gunnar B. Kvaran and Spaniard Agustín Pérez Rubio—who is also the artistic director of Malba—are the curators of the exhibit.
This is the first retrospective of the artist in Argentina.
Life in retrospect
This is the first retrospective exhibition of the artist to be held in Argentina. It resumes—in more than 80 pieces—sixty years of works, sometimes crazy and extravagant, and in many cases expressively naif. In the display, objects, videos, films and various installations serve as a perfect venue to proclaim the famous Instructions, with which Yoko Ono tries to surprise, challenge and somehow influence the viewer.
In Dream Come True, Yoko Ono moves away from the protective aura of music to delve into the mystery of her vulnerability before the conceptual exhibition. She revives the neo avant-garde experiences of the 1960s and turns everyday objects into vehicles for inner transformation.
Opening of Yoko Ono’s Dram Come True at MALBA
Phrases such as Let a fly walk the body of a woman from head to toe, and fly out the window, or the simple Add colors captivate the viewers as they watch the insect slowly walking on her bare skin.
Twelve Latin American artists have been selected to accompany Yoko Ono in Dream Come True: Liliana Porter, Hernán Marina, Ana Gallardo, Amalia Pica, Rosangela Renno, Runo Lagomarsino, Alexander Apostol, Alfredo Jaar, Tania Bruguera, Teresa Margolles, Tercerunquinto and Antonio Caro, who participate under the artistic slogan “bring water” for people. Another surprise is the limited reissue of Pomelo (Grapefruit, 1964).
Above: The translator, Gunnar B. Kvaran, Agustín Pérez Rubio & Guadalupe Requena
Below: View of the exhibition
The project hits the streets
Yoko Ono’s rebellious proposal goes beyond the walls of Malba and reaches the streets of Buenos Aires. In the coming days, art lovers will have the opportunity to admire her famous Instructions in public transport, squares, streets, media and social networks. The intention is to mobilize— through the conceptual simplicity that states that we are art— the art we create in the instant we follow her instructions. This is a new kind of verbal and visual art.
The exhibition will run from June 23 to October 31, 2016, at the Malba. ■
