PARIS - John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono could end up stark naked on a Paris stage Monday as she performs her one-woman art show "Cut Piece," in which members of the audience are to cut off pieces of her clothing.

John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono could end up stark naked on a Paris stage on Monday as she performs her one-woman art show 'Cut Piece', in which members of the audience are to cut off pieces of her clothing. Ono poses next to a poster reading 'War Is Over, If You Want It' at the opening of 'Yes Yoko Ono', an exhibit of her 40-year art, film, performance and music career in this file photo. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

Ono, 70, who accompanied her Beatle husband in numerous controversial anti-war campaigns including the "Bed-In for Peace" against the Vietnam War, first performed her "Cut Piece" show in 1964 in Japan as a protest for peace.

At the end of the show, she stood naked before her audience.

"Come and cut a piece of my clothing wherever you like --- the size of less than a postcard --- and send it to the one you love," the avant-garde artist said in a statement ahead of the performance at Paris' Ranelagh theater.

"When I first performed this work, in 1964, I did it with some anger and turbulence in my heart. This time, I do it with love for you, for me and for the world," she added.

Ono has continued to stage unusual peace campaigns after her husband was shot dead by a deranged fan in December 1980.

Last year, she rented a giant billboard space amid the flashing neon signs of Piccadilly Circus in central London. "Imagine all the people living life in peace," the black-and- white poster read, alluding to Lennon's hit song, "Imagine."

Ahead of the war in Iraq, Ono took out full-page advertisements in major newspapers, conveying the message: "Imagine Peace...Spring 2003."

Peace activists around the world have come to adopt the title track from Lennon's 1971 best-selling solo album as their unofficial anthem.

© Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd

###