Ron Arad, the British-Israeli designer and artist, has long been a boundary-pushing force in contemporary design. Now, at 75, he is the subject of a major solo exhibition, “Ron Arad, 1992–2026,” at the Opera Gallery in Monaco. The show spans 35 years of his career, bringing together iconic works that blur the lines between art, architecture, and industrial design.
Arad’s practice is driven by curiosity and a refusal to be pigeonholed. “I have a studio and it's like a progressive kindergarten,” he told Euronews Culture in Monaco. “We start with very small things, from jewelry to making skyscrapers. We've designed tall buildings, a hospital, a museum, but also small objects. There is no need to define exactly what we do.”
This eclectic approach is evident in the exhibition, which includes pieces like “Linguine” (2020), a stainless-steel sculpture that doubles as furniture, and “Good Ping Pong Dining Table” (2023), also in polished stainless steel. Variations of his iconic “Big Easy” armchair appear in crystal resin and steel, while “This Mortal Coil (large)” (1992) presents an elegant spiral bookcase as a continuous, flowing form.
The Challenge of Selection
Arad’s creative process is as much about editing as it is about generating ideas. “Ideas are the easiest thing in the world. There's no shortage of ideas,” he said. “The difficulty is knowing which ideas to devote your time to, which ones to invest in and which ones to put aside. Even if you let an idea go, it may come back later.”
This philosophy underpins his work, which often involves a dialogue between the artist’s will, the materials, and the final result. “There are no bad materials or bad colors,” Arad noted. “It depends on what you do with them. The dialogue is always there.”
Based in London, Arad has collaborated with leading design companies and his works are held by prestigious museums worldwide. His projects range from furniture and objects to buildings, monuments, and large-scale public installations. He remains tireless, describing his best tool as “a soft-nosed pencil” and emphasizing the role of words in his process: “You draw and talk and explain and listen and talk and draw.”
The exhibition also features “Minimalist Rodin’s Thinker” (2022), a contemporary homage that transforms historical stillness into a dynamic design object and contemplative seat. Together, the works highlight Arad’s ongoing exploration of the relationship between function and sculpture.
For those interested in the intersection of design and culture, Arad’s career offers a masterclass in balancing creativity with discipline. As he put it, “The key elements in my practice are things that excite me, that I look forward to exploring, designing, discussing, modelling, developing, building and seeing.”
“Ron Arad, 1992–2026” runs at the Opera Gallery in Monaco, offering a rare chance to see decades of innovation in one place. For more on how design influences European culture, see our piece on Istanbul's Luxury Scene Marries Ottoman Heritage with Modern Design.
