Yoko Ono – Arias and Objects [Signed & inscribed; Jill Johnston Library]

A Very Good condition copy of a really excellent overview of Ono’s work to date. 140 pages, die-cut front flap (A Hole to See the Sky Through), b/w and some color ills. Some age-toning to wraps. In addition to the survey of objects, films and performances the book also contains various Ono writings including songs. This copy is warmly inscribed by the artist to her long-time friend and colleague Jill Johnston (1929-2010), cultural, literary and dance critic, memoirist, radical lesbian feminist and champion of the avant-garde. Signed Yoko NYC ’95. The book also bears Johnston’s distinctive stamp in blue ink on the half-title page which reads “Write first. then live.” J.J. Ono knew Johnston from the pre-Lennon early 1960s when Ono hosted performances at her Chambers Street, Manhattan loft. They kept in touch throughout the years and JJ also wrote about some of her time with the Lennons in England, as well as a number of imprtant essays on the Fluxus movement. Yoko contributed a cover image to a special edition of Johnston’s last major work, a story partly about her non-relationship with her father, the bellfounder Cyril F. Johnston, entitled “England’s Child: The Carillon and the Casting of Big Bells.”