Chicago to host exclusive U.S. stop for Yoko Ono retrospective

The big picture: The exhibition is a retrospective of Ono's career, featuring more than 200 works, including music scores, installations, a curated music room, films, photography and archival materials.

State of play: "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind" goes back to the start of the artist's career in the mid-'50s, and the role she played in the creative worlds of New York, Tokyo and London.

• Works include her performance "Cut Piece" (1964), as well as her collaborations with John Cage and her late husband John Lennon.
• Her banned "Film No.4 (Bottoms)" (1966–67), which she made as a "petition for peace," will also be featured.

Zoom in: Visitors can expect interactive and education-based works, according to a release from MCA.

• Much of Ono's art is centered on the intersection of music, film, and activism, and the exhibit shows the artist's contribution to Fluxus, the art collective and movement founded in New York in the early 1960s, and conceptualism.
• "My Mommy Is Beautiful" (2004), one of the interactive installations, explores motherhood and allows visitors to share photos of their mothers.

Plus: Ono's peace-driven art will be on billboards throughout Chicago and around the MCA.

What's next: "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind" runs Oct. 18-Feb. 22, 2026.