While everyone knows John Lennon the staggeringly influential songwriter, few are familiar with John Lennon the mischievous and whimsical doodler.
"War is over" borrows its name from a Lennon song.
After his death, Yoko Ono, his wife and collaborator, pledged to bring Lennon's artistic talent to the public in a meaningful way. And she has.
"John, when he was here with us, made a great effort to show his artwork, and he was not very successful," says Ono in a phone conversation from her farm in upstate New York. "And when he passed away, I felt that it was my responsibility to make sure that his artwork was known...The thing is, most people know John as a musician and a writer, and he's a brilliant one at that, but he was also a very good artist."
Ono speaks candidly and excitedly, describing her husband's personality and creative process. She is easy to speak with, sounding eager to discuss Lennon's lesser-known mode of expression.
Explaining why Lennon's art may not have been embraced in the '60s and '70s, she says, "Most artists, in those days especially, were not very fun. They were very serious. When it was fun or had a sense of humor, people didn't think it was good art - it's very interesting that way. Now I think that animation is something they do in the serious art world a lot."
"Peace, Brother," drawn by John Lennon in 1979, depicts him and his son, Sean, greeting a fan in Central Park.
Ono created an exhibit of her late husband's work, which has been touring the country for 17 years - "Has it been 17 years?" she marvels. "I wasn't counting, but that's a long time."
This weekend, Come Together: The Art Work of John Lennon arrives on the Vineyard at Mansion House in Vineyard Haven. One of the largest collections of Lennon's art, the exhibit contains original drawings as well as lithographs and serigraphs, encompassing his output from 1968 to 1980. The work includes lyrics from Lennon's songs as well as comic sketches of animals that Lennon made for his son, Sean, born in 1975. It will be exhibited throughout the weekend with a $2 suggested donation at the door, which benefits the Island Food Pantry.
"He has the same kind of edge in his drawings and in his music," Ono says. "And there's an incredible sense of humor, and most times it's sort of like a black humor."
She continues, "The way he was creating artwork was very much like how he was creating songs. It came very fast to him. When he was depressed about something, he would pick himself up by doing a funny drawing for someone. It was his escape."
Born in Liverpool, England, in 1940, Lennon studied at Liverpool College of Art from 1957 to 1960, before dropping out to pursue music.
"When he was in art school, I think John sort of decided, no, no, no, he wanted to be a rocker," she says. "Have you noticed how talented he was as a songwriter? Well, he noticed it too."
Lennon returned to his drawings in the late 1960s. His work from this period, published posthumously by Ono in a collection called "This Is My Story Both Humble And True," are playful line drawings that depict his and Ono's marriage and honeymoon, including their famous "Bed-In" at the Amsterdam Hilton in 1969.
The couple met when John was a participant in Ono's sculpture-installation "Painting to Hammer a Nail In," where participants hammered nails into a white canvas. "He walked into my exhibition and said to me that we were on the same page," she recalls. "It wasn't until he started to voice some of his opinions about it that I realized he understood my work and we were really on the same page."
While the artists may have shared a point of view, their manners of expression were distinct. Ono's work was more challenging than Lennon's, whose art was playful, more like cartoons that wink - visual journal entries that glimmer with wit, hope, and humor.
Ono continues to produce her own music and art, motivated both by the enduring mission of her late husband and her exposure to new forms of creative expression. "Now I'm very interested in indie music. I didn't even know it exists actually. Whole fields of musicians doing really interesting work. John would have loved it," she says. "It's right up his alley." In September she will release her new album "Between My Head and the Sky," produced by her son.
Meanwhile, she continues to fulfill her pledge to her late husband: "I just want to keep on doing it for John. But it's not just for John, because now it's becoming a show that is popular, and people get the energy. They get the encouragement and inspiration from John's work. And that's what I like about it."
Yoko Ono presents "Come Together: The Artwork of John Lennon," 12 noon-7 pm, July 17; 11 am-7 pm, July 18; 11 am-6 pm, July 19, Mansion House, Vineyard Haven. 888-278-1969. $2 donation benefits Island Food Pantry.
