To the Light | Yoko Ono at Serpentine Gallery

[caption id="attachment_23587" align="alignleft" width="365" caption="Installation view - © 2012 Jerry Hardman-Jones"][/caption] TO THE LIGHT, an exhibition of Yoko Ono's work at the Serpentine Gallery, is her first in a London public institution for more than a decade, and includes new and existing installations, films and performances, as well as archive material relating to several key early works. Ono's continuing interest in the relationship between the roles of artist and viewer is evident throughout the exhibition. A number of works in TO THE LIGHT position both artist and viewer as agents of change. For example, a series of instruction pieces written especially for the Serpentine Gallery can be completed physically or mentally by the viewer, while the large-scale installation AMAZE transforms the viewer from the observer to the observed. Ono also presents #smilesfilm, a worldwide participatory project that will be exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery and encourages participation online. Conceived as a way of connecting people across the world, the project invites people to upload and send images of their smiles by hash-tagging#smilesfilm, creating a global string of smiles covering the planet. Working as an artist, film-maker, poet, musician, writer, performance artist and peace activist for over five decades, Yoko Ono has influenced generations of artists and received numerous prestigious awards. In her prolific career, she has embraced a wide range of media, defying traditional boundaries and creating new forms of artistic expression. Born in 1933 in Tokyo, she is a pioneer of conceptual art and her work has been presented internationally in major exhibitions and performances. TO THE LIGHT at the Serpentine Gallery is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week UK-wide celebration featuring internationally-renowned artists from Midsummer's Day on 21 June to the final day of the Paralympic Games on 9 September 2012. Source: Serpentine Gallery