Matteo Pugliese was born in Milan in 1969. In 1978 his family moved to Sardinia and lived there for the next 12 years. During this time he developed a strong love for drawing and sculpture and practiced without formal education. After finishing his secondary school studies in classics in Cagliari, he returned to Milan to attend university. In 1995 he was awarded his degree in modern literature at the University of Milan with a graduation thesis on art criticism.

Born in Los Angeles in 1980 to an engineer and an artist, Mac has been creating and studying art independently since childhood. He was inspired at a young age by classic European painters such as Caravaggio, and Vermeer and Art Nouveau symbolists such as Klimt and Mucha. This was mixed with the more contemporary influences of graffiti and photorealism, as well as as the Chicano & Mexican culture he grew up around.

A participants mends his vintage car during the annual London to Brighton veteran car run in London, Britain November 6, 2016. Around 600 classic cars took part in the annual 60 mile journey to the south coast resort. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

A volunteer approaches a male toad to pick him up from a road near Berlin on March 18, 2012 in Gueterfelde, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A father crosses a road with his twin daughters in Shanghai, China September 28, 2018. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

A car drives through a flooded road following heavy rain in Gaza City on December 27, 2019. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo)

A woman crosses a road outside the EU Parliament ahead of the EU elections in Brussels, Belgium, May 22, 2019. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

Workers repair a damaged road, in the aftermath of an earthquake, near Anamizu, Japan on January 3, 202. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)