Grapefruit.

ONO, Yoko; Introduction by John Lennon.

$9,500.00

Item Number: 142829

London: Sphere Books Limited, 1971.

First Sphere edition of Ono’s seminal piece of conceptual art. 12mo, original illustrated wrappers. Signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the front free endpaper. The uncommon Sphere edition of Ono’s Grapefruit  integrates the ‘cheeky’ subject matter of her 1966 short film Bottoms. Rare and highly sought-after signed by both Ono and Lennon.

First published in 1964, Yoko Ono's Grapefruit reads as a set of instructions through which the work of art is completed-either literally or in the imagination of the viewer participant. "Grapefruit is one of the monuments of conceptual art of the early 1960s. [Yoko] has a lyrical, poetic dimension that sets her apart from the other conceptual artists. Her approach to art was only made acceptable when white men like Kosuth and Weiner came in and did virtually the same thing as Yoko, but made them respectable and collectible" (David Bourdon). Ono would enact many of the book's scenarios as performance pieces throughout her career, which formed the basis for her art exhibitions, including the highly publicized retrospective exhibition, This Is Not Here in 1971 at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York, that was nearly closed when it was besieged by excited Beatles fans, who broke several of the art pieces.