As pop culture icons go, few have touched the universal psyche as much as the late John Lennon.
As a member of the Beatles, he was revered by countless millions as the visionary soul within the music that defined a generation. As a solo artist, he was an ambassador of world peace, a dreamer who used fame as a pulpit to preach his nameless brand of love that transcended politics, language, religion and all the "isms" in their various forms.A Don Quixote approach to societal ills, perhaps. One destined to pique the Establishment, certainly.
As a dreamer, "I'm not the only one," he wrote in the classic song "Imagine." More than two decades later, there are millions who now draw inspiration and hope from Lennon's words.
But there was - and is - another side to Lennon that few but the most ardent Beatle-philes appreciate: Lennon the visual artist.
"If art were to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life, and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness," Lennon wrote, describing his whimsical approach to art, which perhaps could be better described as a witty celebration of love and family.
In fact, the bulk of Lennon's work has nothing to do with eroticism or politics or cultural revolution or even music. Rather, it is dominated by family portraits - portraits of John and Yoko, of John and son Sean, of Yoko and Sean, of the three of them sharing a familial bliss evident in their simple smiles and held hands and shared embraces.
It is evident in the titles of his work: "Two Is One," "Nothing Is Impossible," "Remember Love," "Feeling Good," "Peace on Earth," "Beautiful Boy," "Family Tree," "Peace Brother," "DaDa, MaMa," "The Hug," "Every Day, In Every Way," to name a few.
Art was Lennon's first love. He began drawing long before he picked up a guitar, attending the prestigious Liverpool Art Institute from 1957 to 1960 before being one of the Beatles became his full-time occupation. Line drawings (in pen, pencil and Japanese sumi ink) became a passion the rest of his life.
A major exhibit of more than 100 of Lennon's serigraphs, signed lithographs and original drawings opens Thursday, Sept. 4, at Fashion Place. The "Art of John Lennon" exhibit is free to the public and runs for four days (from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday).
The collection includes many rare and sold-out limited editions, as well as handwritten lyrics to 20 songs from the Beatles and post-Beatles era.
The public reaction to the exhibit has been nothing short of worshipful. "The majority who come to the exhibit are incredibly thrilled just to see it, to be near something that John created," said curator Richard Horowitz. "Some come because they never before realized he was an artist. Some come to the exhibit and they leave crying. It is a very emotional experience."
In effect, the artwork appeals to the dreamer in all of us.
Lennon's drawings became illustrations for three best-selling books he wrote in the 1960s (museums throughout the world have been collecting the originals wherever and whenever they can find them).
In 1969, Lennon created a portfolio of drawings he entitled "Bag One," which he presented to Yoko Ono as a wedding present. The drawings depicted John and Yoko's wedding and honeymoon.
When the drawings were released as lithographs, they were confiscated by police in several countries, who deemed many of them obscene because of their subtle eroticism. The charges were later dismissed, but many of the Bag One lithographs were destroyed by mishandling - something that discouraged Lennon from future public art exhibits.
He had additional shows in various cities, but because of police harassment - and because gallery owners did not take him seriously as a visual artist - he discontinued the exhibits.
In the late 1970s, Yoko Ono was encouraging Lennon to embark upon another public exhibit. At the time of his death on Dec. 8, 1980, at age 40, Lennon had preserved several hundred drawings he considered important.
After his death, Yoko made a commitment to share his work with the public. "This devotion to a silent promise made to the memory of John's unfulfilled desire for a serious exhibit of his art has provided the public an intimate glimpse into many poetic, romantic and whimsical sketches rendered by John in his lifetime," Yoko writes.
In 1986, Yoko Ono began releasing limited editions of what she considered to be the most meaningful drawings "with the goal of establishing John Lennon as an important artist of his time."
The current exhibit of more than 100 of Lennon's pieces actually began in 1990 with a small exhibit in San Diego, followed by another in Seattle. The overwhelming public response drew the praise of Yoko Ono, who with the John Lennon Estate sanctioned subsequent exhibits.
It has toured about 10 cities every year since that time. The exhibit at Fashion Place marks the first exhibit of Lennon's work in Utah.
Each of the exhibit prints is authenticated by Lennon's embossed signature, the publisher's mark, Yoko Ono's hand signature and Lennon's personal chop mark (a chop mark is a patented red hand stamp that reads in Japanese: "Like a Cloud, Beautiful Sound").
Some of the maquettes of the drawings have been enhanced by colors chosen by Yoko Ono, herself an artist of the Fluxus movement. (In 1966, while she was exhibiting "Painting to Hammer a Nail In," viewers were invited to hammer nails into a white wooden panel; John Lennon was one of the par-ti-ci-pants.)
The exhibit includes three originals: "Steel and Glass," "Sumo" and "Import Export." The exhibit also includes the "Bag One" pieces that evoked so much controversy in 1970, which are now included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
But time seems to have a tempering effect when it comes to controversy. "We've had very, very few negative reactions," Horowitz said. "People's perceptions have changed considerably in the last 30 years. What was considered con-tro-versial back then is not the same now."
Typically, those with negative attitudes - whatever the reason - change their tune once they see the art and hear the history behind the images, Horowitz said. It is a classic case of "seeing is believing."
It is a very personal experience for Horowitz, who spent years trying to acquire a Bag One portfolio of 15 lithographs, four of which now hang on his wall. He went on to organize the first "Art of John Lennon" exhibit in 1990 with Paul C. Jillson.
"When I see something hand-signed by John Lennon hanging on my wall, I get a thrill out of it I cannot describe," he said. "Nothing gives me the same thrill as handling the John Lennon artwork. And the exciting thing is turning other people on to it."
The exhibit is being produced by Pacific Edge Gallery of California.