Imagine All The Art -- John Lennon's Drawings, Doodles And Lyrics Are Featured At Downtown Hotel Through Sunday

------------------------------- Visual arts preview

The John Lennon Art Exhibition Produced by the Pacific Edge Gallery of California, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, the Drawing Room at the Alexis Hotel, 1007 First Ave., Seattle; FREE, 206-624-4844. -------------------------------

Exhibits of John Lennon's artwork have passed through town before, but this one is different.

"I don't think you've seen hand-written lyrics," Yoko Ono said from her studio/office in New York. "Those are beautiful stuff."

There are two portfolios of song lyrics in the show, she said.

"One set is John's handwritten lyrics of Beatle John's individual songs," she said. "You can see he was right on top of it. You can see how he changed some words." The second set are songs from his post-Beatles period.

Also new in this show are seven drawings Lennon created for a children's book, which has just been published, called "Real Love."

"They're a series of animal drawings for children," she explained. "For Sean, actually, to be exact." The drawings include "A Monkey Chattering," "An Owl Hooting" and "A Walrus Wading."

In contrast are lithographs from "Bag One," Lennon's 1970 series of erotic drawings of himself and Ono, the originals of which are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Ono was pleased that at some previous showings of the current traveling exhibit, the "Bag One" drawings have been openly displayed in the front windows, with no complaints. "It's about time we put eroticism up front," she said with a laugh.

Lennon was an inveterate doodler, Ono said, and many of his drawings were not specifically meant for public display. But he knew that anything he drew might eventually be exhibited, "so he would just crumple what he didn't like right away. He was very aware of what he was in terms of fame - he knew that anything he left around would get to the public. These (drawings in the show) were meant to be seen by people."

She said the touring show seldom is displayed in galleries.

"I'm used to that," she said. "In the beginning, there were no venues. You'd be surprised by how many times art gallery doors were slammed in my face. It was an uphill climb. Now he's in hotels and shopping malls - after all, shopping malls are where his records are. He was a working-class hero. Some of his fans would be intimated by an art gallery."

The exhibit has more than 100 original drawings, lithographs and limited-edition serigraphs. Many of the works are for sale.

"He was an inspired artist," she said of her late husband. "He was like that with music as well. I would wake up in the middle of the night and hear him playing the piano. It was a household of 24-hour music. It was great."

She said she is not sure where Lennon's art will eventually go.

"Some museums in Europe would want some," she said. "We'll see what the climate is in the art world when the time comes. We'd maybe do a really big one (donation of art) to a major museum."

Ono said she is helping produce an album of previously-unreleased music recorded by her and Lennon, to be released next year, and is also recording an album of her own music. And she's doing some of her own artwork. "Right now I cannot tell you what," she said. "I'm a busy bee!"