Tomio Koyama Gallery Roppongi and Tennoz are pleased to announce “A statue was here,” an exhibition by Yoko Ono.
Yoko Ono (1933-) has remained an influential figure not only in the art world but also in society at large throughout a career spanning more than 70 years. Her diverse and innovative artistic expression—ranging from instructions, objects, films, music, and performances to installations—have sparked the imaginations and actions of viewers. Her work carries a poetic sense of beauty, liberating both everyday objects and the human mind from conventional concepts, while underscoring the importance of human interaction.
Ono’s creative energy remains undiminished. A major solo exhibition at the Tate Modern in 2024 created a sensation, while three more solo exhibitions are currently being held concurrently in Berlin at the Gropius Bau, Neue Nationalgalerie, and New Berlin Art Society.
In Japan, her work Cloud Piece (1963)— featuring a mirror placed inside a hole in the ground that reflects the sky, uniting sky and earth—will be exhibited at Expo 2025 in Osaka. Starting June 5, her work Fly (1963) will be reimagined as an installation in the Expanded section of Art Osaka.
This marks Ono’s third solo exhibition with Tomio Koyama Gallery, and her first in nine years. The exhibition is curated by her studio director, Connor Monahan.
The Tennoz gallery will feature Wrapping Piece and Draw Circle Painting, participatory works that invite audience participation and performance.
About the exhibition and the works — an invitation to embark on a journey of self-observation, imagination, and action
The title “A statue was here” is taken from a 1967 work by Yoko Ono, later included in the 1970 edition of Grapefruit. Connor Monahan, the curator of this exhibition, offers the following insight:
“Ono’s words, ‘A statue was here,’ evoke a poetic interplay of absence and presence felt throughout the show, where the works create space for imagining new realities shaped by what was and what might be.”
The exhibition unfolds through a selection of works that reflect Ono’s conceptual approach and invite the viewer’s active participation, mentally and physically.
At the Tennoz space, Wrapping Piece (1962/66) invites viewers to wrap gauze into a ball, increasing in its size throughout the show. The piece evolves based on participation, evoking meanings of care, protection, and concealment. In Draw Circle Painting (1964), white canvases and paint pens are available for visitors to draw circles—another act of open-ended participation.
What becomes evident through the works in this exhibition is Ono’s deep insight into the nature of presence and absence, and into imagination’s ability to give form to intangible ideas—thinking, knowledge, love, and belief in a future shaped by imagination and hope.
“Ono’s art is directed at transformation, a faith in the mind’s power to realize good through the act of visualization.” “She offers bits of time, perceptions, epiphanies that provoke an encounter with life’s wit and wonder and make us, hopefully, a little sager and more humane.” *1
“Ultimately asserting that all artworks are unfinished. It’s an approach that to this day continues to be seen as a provocation, not only subverting received ideas about art-making but also standing in contrast to institutional frameworks”
“Yet, in life, what is ever truly finished, settled, or indisputably true? ” *2
*1 Alexandra Munroe “Spirit of YES: The Art and Life of Yoko Ono”, “YES ONO YOKO” exhibition catalogue, Japan Society, 2000
*2 Connor Monahan “A statue was here”, “A statue was here” exhibition catalogue, Tomio Koyama Gallery, 2025
