Removing Lennon Photo From Exhibit a Huge Mistake

The John and Yoko (photo) ranks among the most evocative and important images of the era. Only the snapshot of Ruby killing Oswald comes to mind as of equal substance and weight.

It is testament to John Lennon (and to Annie Leibovitz) that this simple photograph still has the power to command attention. Now that it has, those of us who loved John must once again step forward to say that naked bodies are not obscene, human emotion is not immoral, and the job of art is to communicate at the deepest level.

This photograph represents a generation that grew up with the bomb but sought its ideal in the love of woman and man. It is accurate and honest, which is what always worries the censor.

I suggest that the trustees of the Muckenthaler Cultural Center board a flight to the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy, and stand before the David of Michelangelo for seven (not five) full minutes and then come back to reconsider their decision about the portrait of John and Yoko.

LANCE JENCKS, Costa Mesa