Ono marks Lennon's 64th birthday

An exhibition showing off the art work of the late John Lennon has opened in New York to mark what would have been his 64th birthday.

A collection of sketches, drawings and caricatures have been put on display by his widow Yoko Ono.

She has called the show When I'm Sixty Four, after the Beatles song credited to Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney.

Lennon, who was murdered in 1980, would have reached his 64th birthday on Saturday.

The exhibition at the 102 Wooster Street gallery in New York's SoHo area is being staged over the weekend.

Ono says she has found new drawings created by Lennon, who was a student at the Liverpool College of Art.

"I don't think most people know John's artwork," Ono told the New York Times.

Security blanket

"Sketching was like John's security blanket. The guitar was as well. He was always strumming, but when he wasn't playing the guitar, he was drawing. Guitar and pen."

Among the pictures on display are self-portraits and caricatures of monsters, as well as song lyrics both completed and unfinished.

Many of the pictures will have been seen before because his artwork has been on a tour of the US for 10 years, but Ono says she constantly changes the exhibits.

Lennon was shot outside his Manhattan home by Mark Chapman on 8 December 1980.

Chapman has just been refused parole for third time on the grounds it would "undermine respect for the law" and because of the "extreme malicious intent" of his actions.