He finds materials for his sculpture anywhere from Hawaii’s beaches to household attic collections.
Jozuf Hadley as Bradajo (Brother Jo) also writes and records poetry and short stories in Hawaii’s Pidgin English.
Click each photo to see an enlarged version and relevant information.
Born on the Hawaiian Island of Kaua’i as his mother before him who was a long-time public librarian and author of Kaua’i’s first guide book, it was Jozuf Hadley’s maternal grandfather who in 1902 founded Kaua’i’s weekly newspaper, The Garden Island.
Hadley studied Art at the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, did graduate work at the University of Oregon in Eugene, then earned an MFA in Sculpture at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. He went on to teach Art at the secondary level for three decades. Among other awards and commissions, Hadley is the recipient of Hawaii State grants for Art in Public Places, and his works are included in private collections.
Featured at Hilo’s Wailoa Art & Culture Center in July 2011 was the found objects assemblage sculpture of Jozuf Hadley. It is evident that the artist has been influenced by his natural environment, and by the mysterious spiritual ways of indigenous peoples. He acknowledges the movement of genuine creativity as not of the mind, but the result of letting go into the quiet of not-knowing. He then simply allows what happens.
Since the early seventies the artist has been known for his books and recorded narrations of poetry and short stories in Hawaii’s Pidgin English, published under the name Bradajo (Brother Joe). A former swimming champion, he can often be found in the ocean at Place of Refuge in Honaunau on Big Island of Hawaii, where he resides.
To purchase Jozuf’s treasured sculptures and endearing books and CDs about Pidgin English, please use the contact form to get in touch with Jozuf directly or call him at
(808) 328-1212.
by Stephen Freedman
hiartmagazine.com
When I first heard the voice of Jozuf Hadley, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. A rusty voice intoned lilting rhythms, singsong pitch accented haunting lyrics, resolving in miraculous epiphanies. I was amazed, astounded and baffled. How could someone speaking in pidgin possibly succeed in communicating that mystical ‘sense of place and time’ which poets through the ages have sought to cage in adjectives, similes and homilies?
Struggling through iambic pentameter, or the mesmerizing lamentations of Ginsberg’s Howl, we expect sophistication to emerge from complexity. Language is one of those human prerogatives that distinguish us from other animals. Newborn, we grunt and howl as expressively, imperatively and instinctively as any other animal, but with time and leisure, our expressive range often decreases as evolving communities create specialized terms to describe the increasingly complex constructs of our cultures.
Pidgins arise from the most fundamental human need of peoples with different languages to communicate. They are grammatically simplified amalgamations, often technically limited to immediate needs and commonalities of the colliding cultures. At first glance, pidgins appear to involve generalities, perhaps incapable of expressing the subtle nuance of those creoles or lingua franca (bridge languages) in which truly fused languages become one.
photo by James Rhodes Bradajo performing at the Faces of Hawaii 2010 Photo Portrait Competition opening reception, November 28, 2010 at idspace.
Yet, pervading the ethers above and around us, Jozuf weaves stories–myths akin to the mystical structures of Basho Haiku. Sultry moments hanging in air like thick fog, precipitate down upon us like a tropical downpour. A universe appears, discovered by Polynesian paddlers from another century, barefoot children run through island mornings to clapboard missionary school, immigrants from a dozen countries, building myth and magic from castoff phrases, brought into being in a collusion of indigenous and influence, become inseparable.
When Jozuf stopped speaking, he towered above us for a moment like a genie prepared to return to his bottle, then shrunk down to human form, 5 and a half feet of bearded third generation Kaua’ian, speaking fluent erudite American English, a man I’d never met before. All I could think about was the voice that had just left the room.
On Sunday, October 9, 2011, at the Hawaii Island Writers’ Association `Ohana Day, A Celebration of the Arts, from 10:00 to 5:00 P.M. at Keauhou Beach Hotel in Kailua-Kona. Jozuf will read his Pidgin poetry and exhibit his found object sculpture and framed Pidgin prints, along with his books and CD’s available for purchase. From 11:30 to 12:00 Jozuf (Bradajo) will give an informal reading of his Pidgin poetry and short stories.
Honolulu Academy Art Center at Linekona - Oct 6 - Nov 2, 2011
Jozuf will exhibit his found object sculpture at the Annual Hawaii Craftsmen Statewide Juried Exhibition. This show is opening on Thursday, October 6, 2011 from 5:30 – 7:30 P.M. The sculpture will be showing from October 6 through November 2 at the Honolulu Academy Art Center at Linekona. Phone: 808-521-3282.
Jozuf Hadley
jozuf at jozufhadley dot com
Honaunau, Big Island, Hawaii
(808) 328-1212
Comments or questions are welcome.
