“You see that fine, elegant top tube – totally flat – and immediately realise you have in your hands the perfect surface for creating art.” Luca Di Maggio, a.k.a. Mr. Di Maggio, is a street artist in Milan and the face of the creative urban culture blossoming in cities around the world. His acrylic characters can be seen along the streets of Tel Aviv, among Brooklyn’s rooftops, on Milan’s crumbling walls, and on shutters and billboards.

Bringing them to life on a Flexy Gravel’s carbon frame was the beginning of a friendship that has drawn us into the world of metropolitan art. The custom frame became his canvas. With markers and spray paint, Mr.  Di Maggio has transformed a Titici bike into something even more unique: a moving work of art. The artist himself spends hours pedalling down streets around the world on his masterpiece.

How would you define your art?
“My creations are diaries, representations of a life that falls somewhere between dreams and reality. They’re a form of therapy that I perform on myself. My father was a judge, I studied law but then realised it wasn’t for me. I worked as a graphic designer, but felt the draw of physical shapes. Painting vast walls is an essential physical outlet for me.”

How would you define your art?

Just like cycling, which is a recurring theme in your work.
“Cycling is like painting: a relaxing way to blow off steam. Cycling and cyclists are a source of continuous inspiration, because each trip is a metaphor for life itself: you encounter difficult roads and endless climbs, but when you reach the top, the view is incredible. Cycling teaches us that all our efforts will be rewarded.”

Just like cycling, which is a recurring theme in your work.

Where did this “feeling” for Titici come from?
“I experienced immediate empathy with the brand and the people who work there. I’m an avid supporter of Made in Italy and Titici is one of the strongest examples of it in cycling. I have never had a carbon bike. The amazing shapes of the Flexy Gravel caught my attention right away. When I saw it I thought: it’s the perfect canvas.”