Ron Arad Tel Aviv, Israel, b. 1951
Further images
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 1
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 2
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 3
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 4
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 5
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 6
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 7
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 8
)
‘Fiat 500 is a national symbol for Italy and our generation, and it’s a very endearing vehicle. Everyone has stories about their first ever sex in a Fiat, or first kiss. We’re not destroying the cars, we’re immortalising them.’
— Ron Arad
Cars from this series have been flattened, by a 500-ton press in the Netherlands, to a cartoonish perfection. So objects made for motion are now still, cars built for the road now hang on a wall, their three dimensions compressed almost entirely to two.
“Pressed Flowers” series is inspired by the fear and rupture of an incident—during Arad’s childhood, his father had a severe car crash while driving a Fiat Topolino, which was made from a mix of wood and metal. The car was completely flattened yet his father survived. Arad Says: ‘I will never forget my father’s words to us: “Had my car not been made out of wood I wouldn’t be alive now”.’
Exhibitions
Publications
Ron Arad. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow, 2017. pp. 69–73, 83
“In Reverse”. Design Museum Holon, Israel, 2013. pp. 47, 54–55, 57
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
Artsy
Subscribe