JT Nesbitt, once a Shreveporter - a painter who offered his oils at Montessori Art Auction - is now a motorcycle designer whose product, the Confederate Motor Company super-cycle, the Wraith, is known globally.
The NY Times story Chased Out of New Orleans, Confederate Is Rising Again, is an update of the company's peregrinations following Katrina. Founded in New Orleans, the company's shop was severely damaged by flood water. For a time, the small company considered moving to Shreveport, says the NY Times. I shot a photo of their post-Katrina board meet at Columbia Cafe when Matt Chambers, founder, was catching his breath.
They chose to make their new home in Birmingham, AL.
Of Nesbitt's design, says the NY Times, "The history the Wraith invokes is almost motorcycle prehistory. Though fabricated of high-tech materials like carbon fiber composites and built using computer-controlled machines, the inspiration for the Wraith was drawn from primitive art and from sculptures by Alexander Calder, specifically the works arranged like planets in the solar system.
"From its inception it was seen as a work of kinetic sculpture," Mr. Nesbitt said. "I took the basic shapes of ellipse, circle and arch. To orchestrate them, I turned again to Calder and his view of our solar system. Planets in our system lend themselves as a perfect model for asymmetry and balance."
See more at www.confederate.com
3 comments:
I'm not so sure that Mr. Nesbitt should be taking full credit for the "design" of the Wraith. He's not very PC or tech savy.
Mr. Nesbitt's current endeavors can be found at www.bienvillestudios.com
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