"Yoko Ono: The Music of the Mind" Exhibition Opening in Los Angeles

Yoko Ono holding Glass Hammer, 1967, in Yoko Ono at Lisson: Half-A-Wind Show, Lisson Gallery, London, 1967. © Yoko Ono. Photo by and © Clay Perry. Visitors explore Yoko Ono’s Add Colour (Refugee Boat) (1960/2016) installed in Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind, Tate Modern, London, 2024. © Yoko Ono. Photo © Oliver Cowling, courtesy of Tate.

Los Angeles, California, USA. 23rd May 2026. The Broad Museum celebrated the opening of Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind, an exhibition showcasing the legacy of artist Yoko Ono, an art career which spanned over seven decades. It is the artist’s first solo museum exhibition in Southern California, and was organized in collaboration with Tate Modern, in London, England. Presented at The Broad in downtown Los Angeles, the exhibition features a wide-ranging selection of Ono’s conceptual installations, interactive works, films, photographs, music, and archival materials. Members of the Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA) attended the opening exhibition, including TV host Joey Zhou, founder of the Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA), Professor Lingyun Xiang, and Natalie Chen, LABA Coordinator.

Professor Lingyun Xiang draws an image on the floor at the Yoko Ono exhibition

The exhibition drew visitors from the local and international art community, as well as those who came to view Ono’s work and explore her contributions to contemporary art, music, performance, and peace activism. The Broad’s olive trees on East West Bank Plaza side of the building were turned into "Wish Trees" for Los Angeles, an installation that was first realized in 1996 at Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, and invited visitors to tie their own wishes to the tree branches in an expression of hope for Los Angeles. The exhibition will run from May 23rd to October 11, 2026.

TV host Joey Zhou, founder of the Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA) hangs a wish on the Wish Tree at The Broad Museum

Ono’s work challenges traditional boundaries between artist and audience while emphasizing themes of imagination, participation, healing, peace, and collective human experience. Visitors attending the exhibition explored and photographed the immersive installations and participatory artworks that have become synonymous with Ono’s artistic vision. Many of her works invite visitors to actively engage with the works, reflecting Ono’s long-standing belief that art can serve as a catalyst for communication, reflection, and social connection. Attendees were seen participating in the installations, writing on the walls, hammering nails, watching films, revisiting some of her most iconic conceptual works while experiencing Ono’s impact on contemporary culture.

Natalie Chen, LABA Coordinator with some of Yoko Ono's artworks

TV host Joey Zhou, founder of the Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA) participates by hammering a nail into the installation artwork

Ono was an accomplished and recognized artist well before her marriage to John Lennon of the Beatles thrust her into the spotlight, and she was an early practitioner of what we now call performance art. The exhibition also highlights Ono’s role within the Fluxus movement of the 1960s and her collaborations across music, visual art, film, and performance. In addition to her artistic achievements, the exhibition examines her advocacy for peace, human rights, and global activism, especially during the time she was married to John Lennon. The artworks Acorn Event (1968) and Bed Peace (1969), anti-war works of activism Ono and Lennon worked on together are on display.

Natalie Chen, LABA Coordinator with a poster and a water bottle at Yoko Ono's exhibition

TV host Joey Zhou, founder of the Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA)

Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind continues The Broad’s commitment to presenting internationally significant exhibitions that examine influential voices in modern and contemporary art.

About the Broad

The Broad was founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The Broad makes its collection of contemporary art from the 1950s to the present accessible to the widest possible audience by presenting exhibitions and operating a lending program to art museums and galleries worldwide. By actively building a dynamic collection that features in-depth representations of influential contemporary artists and by advancing education and engagement through exhibitions and diverse public programming, the museum enriches, provokes, inspires, and fosters appreciation of art of our time.

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