Instruction Paintings Workshop

In 1997, Yoko Ono (b.1933, Tokyo, Japan) presented her first major solo exhibition at Modern Art Oxford. The exhibition, titled Have you seen the horizon lately? brought together a selection of her photos, performances, films, paintings, and sound works across a period of 38 years.

During this time, Ono created hundreds of ‘instruction paintings’, a series of typewritten guides inviting the viewer to participate in the work either through their imagination or through physical enactments. A selection of these works from the 1997 exhibition, including Painting to Hammer a Nail (1961), Painting for the Burial (1961), Cloud Piece (1963) and Painting to Exist Only When it’s Copied or Photographed (1964) have returned to the gallery this year as part of KALEIDOSCOPE, a year of programming which celebrates 50 years of groundbreaking exhibitions at Modern Art Oxford. In this temporary display, the Café and Yard hosted three specially selected instruction paintings, each accompanied by an interactive installation which invited visitors to participate in the work.

We hosted workshops in which people of all ages and capabilities were invited to create their very own responses to Ono’s instructions.