John Lennon’s ‘Bag One’ Lithographs Exhibit at Dimension: ART on Route 1-November 9, 1970

Route 1 Gallery Hosted by Young Founders Brings Beatles Star’s Controversial New York-London Art Suite to Norwood

NORWOOD — Beatle John Lennon’s formal entry into the art world is presently on view in Norwood at Dimension: ART, a gallery located on Route 1 near the Neponset Street intersection. Entitled “Bag One,” the suite of 14 large lithographs depicts the “marriage adventure” of John and his Japanese artist-wife, Yoko Ono. The portfolio—which caused a stir when first shown in New York and London earlier this year and features copies purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Carolina Museum in Vienna—sells for $2,000 and is limited to an edition of 300. The exhibit will remain on view through November 18, though visitors under 18 are not permitted to view the collection due to the “art or pornography” debate surrounding the nude drawings.

The gallery’s public relations director, Francisiosi, along with director Joseph D. Frangiosa, art consultants Cristyn Lamb and Helen Keith, and co-founder Matthew Delaney (a Brockton art teacher and Norwood High graduate), opened Dimension: ART the previous May. The young founders—most in their twenties—renovated the drab building themselves, adorning an exterior wall with a modernistic mural of a fiery orange and gold sun on a deep blue background, flanked by a huge iron abstract sculpture guarding the entrance.

Showcasing Local Talent Amid Financial Struggles

While the Lennon exhibit serves as an attention-getting device to generate public interest and combat financial difficulties, the primary mission of Dimension: ART is to provide an outlet for promising young artists and local creators outside of Boston. Mr. Frangiosa, an engineer by training and a lifelong Norwood resident, emphasized a philanthropic vision to make quality works available at modest prices.

The gallery’s current exhibition also highlights several talented local and regional artists:

• Jerome Glickman of Kittering Road, Norwood: A medical illustrator and award-winning professional who teaches at the Beacon Hill Free School in Boston.
• Irene Gotovich: Daughter of Norwood Town Counsel Walter J. Gotovich, a 1970 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design.
• Ronald David Franciosi: Born in Norwood and a senior at the Rhode Island School of Design, commissioned to design sculpture for the city of Amarillo, Texas.
• Pat Breach of Walpole: A commercial artist with family ties to Norwood.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger