RON ARAD: In A China Shop

The inaugural exhibition at IFC featuring a solo show of 14 works by internationally-renowned sculptor Ron Arad is a tightly-curated and ambitious show, following Arad's successful retrospective at the Pompidou Centre in Paris and MoMA in New York.

At the heart of the exhibition is Oh, the Farmer and the Cowman should be Friends, executed in 2009. The 6 metre-wide stainless steel bookshelf depicts the outline of the American continent and its states, the hollow spaces to be filled by books and American history to be re-written and re-filled by the prospective owner.

Lolita, an imposing Swarovski crystal chandelier executed in 2004, takes pride of place within the show, engaging the viewer in an interactive experience and displaying Ron Arad's trademark humorous twist. The visitor will be able to text an SMS message to a dedicated phone number, and the message will then run along the length of the spiral, raising questions of authorship, ownership of the art and the public's place within the art-historical dialogue.

Joining these two outstanding works from Ron's recent production are Big Easy Volume 2 for 2, an early (1989) and seminal piece which is now associated worldwide with Ron Arad's particular brand of engaging and immaculately executed artistic design.