"The nature of reality is a flow and change," [Yoko Ono] told an audience at a talk Saturday afternoon, and her life story - as well as her art - reflects the truth of her words. Born in 1933 to a prominent Japanese banking family, she grew up in Japan and the United States during the era of World War II. She absorbed both the horror of devastation and the thrill of intellectual freedom that surged through postwar Japan after the collapse of totalitarian rule. Ono received extensive training in classical music, art and philosophy, but soon discovered her allegiances were with more experimental forms of expression.

The rest of what we are, or could be, fascinates Ono. A naked woman looms as large as a landscape in her 25-minute film, "Fly," which records several insects prowling over the recumbent form. Another film, "Cut Piece," focuses on Ono's body, as members of an audience take turns picking up a scissors and cutting away her clothes. By exposing voyeurism, along with nude figures, both films delve beyond the physical realm into psychologically and politically charged territory.

Ono's art may not often engender that level of passion, but it offers more than slick gimmicks. Skeptics who visit "YES Yoko Ono," through Jan. 6, might be surprised at the lyrical power of her instructions for paintings, the craftsmanship of her sculptural objects, and the thoughtfulness of her multimedia pleas for humanity.