JOHN´S DRAWINGS GO ON SHOW IN NEW YORK

Yoko Ono has lent some highly personal drawings by John Lennon to a New York gallery for an exhibition that would have marked his 72nd birthday.

John Lennon's drawings 'Happy Life' (left) and 'Let's Have a Dream' in the new exhibition The Artwork of John Lennon at 130 Prince St. in SoHo, New York

 

An exhibition called The Artwork of John Lennon will feature 100 drawings and sketches by the late Beatle. The works cover the years 1964 to 1980, the year Lennon was fatally shot outside his Manhattan apartment building.

Most of the works are quick sketches and display his experimentation with the Oriental technique of sumi ink drawing.

Lennon, who started drawing before he had a guitar, once said "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."

In 1970 some of his drawings, made on his honeymoon with Yoko Ono, were released as lithographs and famously confiscated by police in some countries because of their explicit content. He was discouraged from showing his work for years after.

The show opens on Friday, until 9 October at 130 Prince St. in SoHo, and marks what would have been Lennon's 72nd birthday.

The exhibition is being presented by his widow, Yoko Ono, as well as Bag One Arts and Legacy Productions.

A $2 donation is suggested, and the funds will benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels.

That Hippie Penny Lane