Photo credit: Ron Arad, Big Easy (crystalline) Mixing Blue, 2023, crystalline resin, 92 x 132 x 80 cm | 36.2 x 52 x 31.5 in
Opening April 27, Opera Gallery Monaco will present “Ron Arad, from 1992 to 2026,” a solo exhibition surveying more than thirty years of work by the British-Israeli designer and artist. The presentation, held in conjunction with Monaco Art Week, marks a significant retrospective of a creator who has consistently challenged the boundaries between art, architecture, and industrial design.
The exhibition traces Arad’s sculptural language from the early 1990s to the present day. Among the emblematic works on view is the 1992 This Mortal Coil (large), an elegant spiral bookshelf conceived as a continuous, flowing structure. The selection also highlights Arad’s more recent innovations, such as the stainless steel corweave piece Linguine (2020) and the Good Ping Pong Dining Table (2023).
Photo credit: Ron Arad, Linguine, 2020, corweave in stainless steel and mirror polished stainless steel sides, 111 x 392 x 62 cm | 43.7 x 154.3 x 24.4 in
Photo credit: Ron Arad photographed in 2023 (Courtesy Opera Gallery)
“Ron Arad is one of the most visionary figures in contemporary design,” said Federica Beretta, Global Director of Opera Gallery. “This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to experience the evolution of his practice over more than thirty years, revealing the bold experimentation that continues to drive his work today.”
Arad, born in 1951, rose to prominence in the 1980s with furniture that blurred the lines between sculpture and utility. The Monaco exhibition features iterations of his iconic Big Easy armchair, cast in both crystalline resin and steel, alongside the 2022 Minimalistic Rodin’s Thinker, which transforms the historic pose into a dynamic design object.
Photo credit: Ron Arad, This Mortal Coil (large), 1992, patinated and tempered mild steel, 220 x 33 x 215 cm | 86.6 x 13 x 84.6 in
Beyond the gallery walls, Arad’s influence is cemented in the collections of major institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. His architectural portfolio includes the Design Museum Holon in Israel, and he remains a Royal Academician at the Royal Academy of Arts.
The exhibition runs through May 28, 2026. As part of Art Monte-Carlo, Arad will participate in a talk titled “When Design Becomes Art - and Art Becomes Furniture” on April 30 at the Grimaldi Forum, in conversation with Beretta.