Serpentine, in partnership with, Clear Channel, will launch Yoko Ono’s iconic public artwork I LOVE YOU EARTH on billboards across the country to coincide with Earth Day on Thursday 22nd April.
“There are so many of us in the world who are now awakened, ready to act to save our world. So let’s work together to save this planet. Together. That’s how we will change the world. We change, and the world changes. Have trust in what you can do. Have trust in how fast we can change our world for the better. Why? Because we have to. Believe that we are one and together we will make it. Love is what connects all lives on Earth.”
Yoko Ono said
I LOVE YOU EARTH is a reminder to those who see it to ask themselves: Do I love the Earth? How am I expressing that love? Could I do more?
The work is Yoko Ono’s contribution to Serpentine’s long-term, multi-year project Back to Earth, which invites over sixty leading artists, architects, poets, filmmakers, scientists, thinkers and designers, to respond to the environmental crisis, with the support of partner organisations and networks, running throughout the Galleries’ programmes onsite, offsite and online.
“As communities across the UK return to public places in our cities they will be welcomed by Yoko Ono’s powerful positive statement for the planet: I LOVE YOU EARTH. We are so delighted to be able to work with Yoko Ono again as part of our Back to Earth initiative, building on a collaboration spanning three decades including her acclaimed 2012 Serpentine solo exhibition. Planned before this global health crisis hit, Back to Earth could not be more urgent now as we work with artists to understand and address our relationship with the earth and everything in it. We are very grateful to Clear Channel who have provided the billboards, and to Connor Monahan and Ono’s team, without whose help this project would not have happened.”
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, and Bettina Korek, CEO
I LOVE YOU EARTH was originally conceived as a song on Ono’s 1985 album Starpeace, and later translated into a public artwork. It acts as a provocation, setting up an active relationship between artist and viewer that follows on from the questions and instructions included in Ono’s seminal 1964 book Grapefruit.
“Out of Home has always been an unrivalled medium for sharing public art, thought-provoking messages and stimulating important public conversations so we’re incredibly delighted to display Yoko Ono’s artworks across our sites nationwide this Earth Day. By creating this outdoor exhibition, we hope that more people will be able to enjoy art before galleries reopen and, importantly, be encouraged to reflect on how we can all better look after our planet.”
Martin Corke, CMO at Clear Channel UK, said:
