Yoko Ono and her exhibit "Uncursed." Photo Credit: Kishin Shinoyama.

The bombing of Hiroshima was tragic for its land and all its creatures, casting a great shadow for generations to come. Yoko Ono’s Uncursed at the Galerie Lelong transports the viewer to the painful past of Hiroshima. The entrance is a glass door, enabling Yoko’s main medium – freestanding doors –  to be immediately seen. However, upon entrance is a wall, perpendicular to the door, with three peepholes. The peepholes were a limitation and the wall a barricade.  The quarantined room was dimly lit and covered with rubble and ash. Transparent spoon-head bodies inhabited the space, and like the viewers, we’re distant and separate.

The main room did not vary much. It was dimly lit as well, but enough to cast shadows for the aged, ivory-colored doors. Varnish was fading, bark was visible, and amongst the freestanding doors were two doors fallen. Alongside the doors were “pieces of the sky,”  swirls of blues and fluffy whites, that adorned the ground. Sky and earth had met, and two mutant bugs hung on walls.

In this eerie and pensive piece, Yoko Ono urged her viewers to trace their shadow on a blank wall.

The exhibit will be in display until December 10, so go and cast your shadow!