Multisensory experiences and an experimental use of language are fundamental to Yoko Ono's cross-media artistic practice. The word TOUCH – similar to FLY – functions as a conceptual key in her work and serves as the starting point for several pieces. In 1960-61, Ono created her first series of Touch Poems in small booklets. These works – incorporating materials such as strands of hair and paper strips – are “read” by touch. “I thought of creating poems you take into your body by touch,” Ono explains. This also aligns with her interest in the multidimensionality of interpersonal communication and the desire to overcome social isolation and alienation. In the 1960s and 1970s, the performance Touch Poem for Group of People (1963) was staged multiple times, based on the artist's instruction to “Touch each other,” which also appeared in her seminal artist’s book Grapefruit (1964). Another variation, Touch Piece, featuring the minimalist instruction “Touch.,” was included in a later edition of Grapefruit.

With TOUCH by Yoko Ono, n.b.k. continues its collaboration with the artist and her studio as part of the n.b.k. Billboard series. This follows the presentation of Ono’s work FLY, which premiered during Berlin Art Week in September 2024. Both works extend the artist’s engagement with billboards, a medium she has used since the 1960s. TOUCH will be shown in parallel to the survey YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND at the Gropius Bau (April 11 to August 31, 2025) and the exhibition YOKO ONO: DREAM TOGETHER at the Neue Nationalgalerie (April 11 to September 14, 2025).

Yoko Ono (*1933 in Tokyo, lives and works in New York) has received numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale (2009), the International Human Rights Award Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Medal (2012), and the Oskar Kokoschka Prize (2012). Her work has recently been exhibited at Tate Modern, London (2024); Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2024); Nobel Peace Center, Oslo (2023); CIRCA/Serpentine (2022); Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (2019); and the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2015), among other venues.