May 12, 2009 12:12

John Lennon's bloody clothes to enter art gallery

Yoko Ono says she fears public will criticise her for the exhibition

A paper bag filled with the clothes worn by the late Beatle John Lennon when he was murdered in 1980 is to be exhibited in a New York art gallery.

Lennon's widow Yoko Ono has created the display, which also features handwritten lyrics, a piano, guitars, a pair of 'granny-glasses' and Lennon's famous 'New York City' T-shirt.

Speaking about the bloodstained clothing, Ono said she was fearful that she "might be criticised" for featuring it in the exhibition, adding that the bag was "hard to include".

The exhibition, named 'John Lennon: The New York Years', runs until the end of the year at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Annex.

Ono added that she is still coming to terms with the murder of the former Beatle, reports BBC News.

Lennon was shot and killed aged just 40 by deranged fan Mark Chapman outside the Dakota apartment complex on December 8, 1980.

"I know it's a kind of a sad and very poignant kind of paradox, I think, that he loved this place [New York] so much and this where he was killed," she said.

She added: "If it [Lennon's murder] was a slow process we could have talked about it or something."