Josh Hadar’s official launch of his Solar Powered Electric Vehicles and Additional Eco-Art Installation, ‘The Evolution of Steel’, was an ultimate experience.
As I rushed upstairs to take a closer look at the exquisite display, I became convinced that I was suddenly privy to a new type of sculptural art. It was a spectacular melange of magnificence and visual stimuli mixed with intelligently functional and sturdily wrought concepts by a passionate artist whose novel designs will be heralded for generations to come.The exhibit displayed Hadar’s earliest creations and spanned his development to the more recent custom bikes. Six years ago at the age of thirty-six he decided to pursue his real passion. He trained himself in the very space where the designs were being viewed how to craft steel through natural means. His evolution has become this unique style that radiates his mastery effortlessly. ‘Uncle Stew’s Trike’ was polished nickel on carbon steel made with heart and precision that was expertly finished with a hand-tooled deerskin seat and grips. ‘Eric’s Teardrops’ was a very evocative design. It is nickel-on rolled steel built with hand-spun aluminum plate wheels and a hand-blown, steel wrapped glass fuel tank that beamed with masculine vulnerability. I also loved the lines and movement with ‘Richard the Lionheated’ and the ‘Eco-Luxe’ was extremely captivating. However, the ‘Solar E-Trike’ and ‘the Photovoltaic Acasia Tree (Solar E-Tree)’ were two exceptional examples of Hadar’s genius. They were the stars of the show.
The Solar E-Trike is a fully off grid system that was created in November 2010. All the electric hand tools used in its creation were run using off-grid solar energy. And instead of installing solar panels on a roof, why not a garden of Photovoltaic Acasia Trees? Completed in April 2011, the magnetic design boasted a series of nine LEDs illuminating hand blown glass fruit. Its promise is the creation of a larger tree that will provide power to light your home in style.
Josh Hadar’s hope is to inspire change in the art community. Together with the team at Hadar Metal Designs (Hadar’s eco-design group), his furthering of environmental technologies via these new sculptural art installments have become the future of the art world. In fact, not only was his launch a new standard in functional art design but I undoubtedly walked away feeling better about the future of functional art. I am privileged to have seen his work and I am also humbled to have experienced his words. The most resonant part of our conversation was the ‘the extra ten minutes’ that propels his ambition. They have separated him from the pack transporting his work to unprecedented heights and will inevitably improve our world. Congratulations on then most spectacular launch!!
For more information and to view more of Josh’s work please visit: www.hadarmetaldesign.com
EXHIBIT:
Dates:
From May 6th-27th
Tuesday to Friday: 1pm-9pm
Saturday: 12pm-9pm
Sunday: 12pm-6pm
Where:
285 Lafayette St. (Bet. Houston and Prince St.)
New York, NY 10012
Images by Adrian Ossington for JSD