On the day before her exhibition Unfinished Paintings And Objects was to open, Japanese artist Yoko Ono was introduced to John Lennon for the first time.
The exhibition was held at the Indica Gallery, in the basement of the Indica Bookshop in Mason’s Yard, just off Duke Street in Mayfair, London. The Indica was co-owned by John Dunbar, Peter Asher and Barry Miles, and was supported in its early years by Paul McCartney.
John Lennon became mesmerized by Yoko Ono after she set her sights on him, writes author Ray Connolly in new book Being John Lennon: A Restless Life- (Mailonline)
Yoko was aggressive, constantly badgering John with letters and appearing at places he was.
Yoko broke into 'the orbit of the Beatles' after meeting John at the Indica Gallery in London, where she was preparing for a show the next day
RELATED: Being John Lennon: A Restless Life by Ray Connolly
'From the very beginning of her career, she understood the power of networking and self-promotion; especially self-promotion,' according to Connolly.
John 'felt that she was the star and he the audience', never had he met anyone like this 'odd little Japanese woman dressed in her black intellectual's uniform'.
Yoko was writing letters to John, getting under his skin and was everywhere he was, even showing up at a meeting with a yogi in the Indian Himalayas.
Yoko and John became inseparable and he insisted Yoko be at all sessions - inhibiting to the other Beatles and driving a wedge between John and Paul.
Their relationship became strained by 1972 and Yoko decided to get John a mistress - May Pang, 22, a Chinese girl who had been working for the couple.
Yoko initially targeted the millionaire rock star to be her sponsor for her 'event art', claiming to have bumped into him out of sheer luck at an art gallery in London, writes author Ray Connolly in Being John Lennon: A Restless Life.
The 5'2 artist was aggressive and immune to rejection, constantly badgering the Beatle with letters and appearing at places he was. It worked, but apart from John no one else was as captivated.
Lennon's aunt Mimi called Yoko a 'poisoned dwarf' and John's band mates Paul, Ringo and George did not want her sitting in on album recording sessions or label meetings.
The heroin addict turned up in Lennon's life during a time when he was seeking a spiritual rebirth and turned him onto her drug of choice, and she would eventually be instrumental in breaking up the Beatles, Connolly writes.
One of her art pieces was a board with a chain and a hammer hanging on it and a bunch of nails at the bottom.
John asked: 'Can I hammer a nail in it'? 'No', she said and walked away.
She came back and asked for five shillings. Lennon had no money on him and said he would give her five imaginary shillings to hammer in an imaginary nail.
She later contacted Lennon and asked him for an original music score for a short film. He sent lyrics to one of the Beatles' songs but John didn't know that she had initially asked Paul who refused her request.She wanted financial backing to wrap the statues of the lions in Trafalgar Square in canvas.
Yoko's next move was to send John a copy of her self-published book of 'instructional poems' called Grapefruit.
One poem was: 'Stir inside of your brains with a penis until things are mixed up. Take a walk. Smoke everything you can, including your pubic hair'.
John 'felt that she was the star and he the audience'.
He hadn't felt that for a long time. She was an enigma to him. Never had he met anyone like this 'odd little Japanese woman dressed in her black intellectual's uniform,' writes the author. 'Yoko had broken into the orbit of the Beatles', writes the author.
A few weeks after the Indica Gallery meeting, she showed up at the Beatles' office in Mayfair hoping to speak to John.She even showed up at a meeting that John, Paul and Jane Asher had with a yogi in the Indian Himalayas.
Invited to appear at a symposium in London, she reconnected with John who 'finally found someone who was balmy as I am', John told his friend Pete Shotton.
Yoko and John became a couple and a brand -- JohnandYoko -- and the 'poisoned dwarf' finally got her wish. 'She was becoming famous'.
They were never apart for the next three years before moving to Manhattan in 1971.
With Yoko, he was no longer the front man as he was with the Beatles and never away from her side.
