Provenance: The Luz Gallery

Exhibited: The Luz Gallery, BenCab: New Paintings and Drawings, Makati, October 22 – November 10, 1987

Literature: “Study of Yoko.” Daily Globe, November 5, 1987. Black-and-white photograph on page 16.

ABOUT THE WORK

Benedicto Cabrera’s affinity for Japanese themes and styles, particularly the ukiyo-e and Japanese women, started in the early 1970s upon his settlement in London. Bencab became acquainted with London’s antique shops, where he and his wife, Caroline Kennedy, ran an Orientalia stall in Chelsea. Bencab’s exposure to the world of the old resulted in two of his most iconic series: the Larawan series and the Japanese Women Series. In this work, Bencab depicts Yoko Ono, a Japanese artist, author, and musician who pioneered conceptual and performance art in the 1960s. Among his most famous works are Cut Piece (1964), a seminal work of performance and participatory art, and Wish Tree (1996 – present), a participatory art installed in various locations, such as London, Japan, Venice, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Ono was the wife and artistic partner of legendary English singer-songwriter John Lennon. As a couple, they founded the Plastic Ono Band in 1969, famous for producing rock, experimental, and avant-garde music in the 1970s. Ono conceptualized and wrote most of the lyrics of Lennon’s biggest hit, Imagine (1975). Their critically and commercially successful album Double Fantasy would win the coveted “Album of the Year” nod at the 1982 Grammy Awards; Ono wrote half of the songs on the album. Ono is an influential author, having published several books, including Grapefruit (1964), an artist’s book highly regarded as an early example of conceptual art. A respected filmmaker, Ono delved into experimental cinema from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, producing 16 films, including the 1966 Fluxus film “No. 4.” Bencab’s depiction of Ono in this piece was likely inspired by the latter’s performance in Cut Piece, in which Ono invited the audience to cut her clothes until she was naked as she silently sat, motionless. Some critics regarded it as a critique of violence against women and their systemic oppression in a macho society. The female figure’s passive gesture in this work mirrors Ono’s seated posture in Cut Piece, exploring the prejudiced notions surrounding the racial fetishization of the geisha, and Asian women in general, as “sexual objects”; how they have been degraded into passive and submissive beings capable only of satisfying the carnal pleasures of men, particularly in their depiction in Western media. Yoko Ono and Bencab would eventually meet on November 10, 2015, at the residence of the thenPhilippine ambassador to Japan, Manolo Lopez, in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, during the book launch of History and Heritage of the Kudan: The Official Residence of the Philippine Ambassador to Japan, written by historian Ambeth Ocampo. In an interview with Inquirer Lifestyle published on November 15, 2015, Bencab gladly remarks on his felicitous meeting with Ono: “I was thrilled to meet the legendary Yoko Ono and was privileged to have a few minutes with her.” Bencab was a guest at the book launch while Ono gave a speech. Ono also admired Bencab’s work titled Flight, which hung at the embassy residence of Manolo, who has been a Bencab collector since the 1970s. (A.M.)