By Carol Vogel
Outside the entrance to the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens here there are six dogwood trees with paper messages dangling from their branches in many languages. “Less fear and greed,” one reads; “Peace and Love,” another. The messages are at the invitation of Yoko Ono, who at nearly 80 is the subject of “Yoko Ono: To the Light,” which opened on Tuesday.
Her first show here in more than a decade, it includes videos like “Fly” and “Amaze” (1971/2012). “Fly,” made with John Lennon, traces a fly as it travels across a naked woman’s body. “Amaze” is a labyrinth of a clear plastic and aluminum.
Ms. Ono’s presence will reach beyond the confines of Kensington Gardens. From Thursday through Sept. 9 her video “Imagine Peace” will be translated into 24 languages on 25 video screens throughout Britain, including those in Victoria Park and Hyde Park and on the Underground at Canary Wharf in London. Lennon’s 1971 song “Imagine” accompanies the video.
The “Imagine Peace” videos were organized by the Art Production Fund, based in New York. Like the exhibition at the Serpentine the videos are part of the London 2012 Festival, in anticipation of the Olympics.