Josh Hadar is practically a neighbor of mine here in Manhattan. But until someone pointed me toward his website a while back, I'd never heard of him, or seen his work. That says more about my cluelessness than it does about his obscurity, though, as his site is a hugely popular discovery among urban hipster blogger types. And rightly so.
When I first went to his site and saw the work he was doing at the time, I was impressed and intrigued by his unique take on the bicycle form. But a couple of days ago, after a friend mentioned his name, I went back for another visit. My reaction this time was, "HOLY SHIT!"
Since that earlier visit, he's tackled the motorbike form, while ratcheting-up the sculptural aspects to an almost excruciatingly-intense level. The piece shown above is merely one example of five recent pieces showcased on his website. Four of them are created around 80CC 2-stroke engines, and one around an electric motor. All are absolutely incredible pieces of sculpture, with the motorbike functionality serving as a useful lagniappe to the stunning artfulness of the objects. His incorporation of hand-blown glass elements into several of them is just insanely brilliant. Jim Wilson |