The Last Train is Ron Arad’s response to Diacore’s initiative and commission to create a work of art incorporating diamonds.
The piece is about the strength of the raw material rather than being seen as a symbol of value and an object of adornment. It is about the way diamonds have often been -since the advent of glass panes in the 16th century- used to etch messages of love, hate, rebellion or even pain
The exhibition of the same name in the 55th Venice Biennale, includes works by Francesco Clemente, Anthony Gormley, Christian Marclay, David Shrigley, Cornelia Parker, Richard Wilson, Robert Wilson, Sara Fanelli, Sue Webster and Tim Noble, Leandro Erlich and Gavin Turk, as well as texts by Ron Arad and Francesco Clemente.
“I was going to catch the last train from Naples — I arrived on the platform just as the doors closed. The train lingered a little and I saw that in an empty carriage there was a guy with a ring on his fist, doing the most amazing drawings on the glass. It reminded me of the images of Picasso drawing with a match in the air. Although I didn’t know how I would get out of Naples that night, I felt like I was compensated for missing my train by witnessing some beauty that no one else had seen before. These pieces are about this memory.” Ron Arad