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 man strikes a pose in front of a giant torta, or sandwich, during a press conference to promote the 13th annual Torta Festival, in Mexico City, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. The five day festival presents a variety of the Mexican street food made from the most exotic ingredients that include ostrich or stingray, to the classic ham, grilled steak or slow cooked pork. The festival's purpose is to maintain the tradition of eating tortas, and promote the vendors of the Mexican sandwich. (Photo by Marco Ugarte/AP Photo)

A Parisian dances at the installation Electronica, a unique look at the great classics of 20th century electronic music, played under the vaults at the Collège des Bernardins part of Nuit Blanche, an annual evening festival of culture and art on October 03, 2020 in Paris, France. Scaled down this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the festival is split across the left and right banks of the city with many outdoor exhibitions to enable social distancing. (Photo by Kiran Ridley/Getty Images)

Blizzard in the High Peak, Derbyshire, by John Finney: “After a difficult journey in the snow, I made my way from Mam Tor down onto the Great Ridge. As the clouds got darker, I placed the tripod and camera at just the right angle to avoid snow getting onto the lens, and used a flash gun and a relatively slow shutter speed to highlight the fast motion of the blizzard”. Classic view, adult class – winner. (Photo by John Finney/Landscape Photographer of the Year)

A Polish MiG-29 flies beneath dark skies at the annual RNAS Yeovilton Air Day on July 9, 2011 in Yeovil, England. The annual air day at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset, attracts over 35,000 people to what is one of the biggest air shows in the region and gives visitors the chance to see a host of aircraft as well as a number of historic and classic cars. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

An inflatable pig flies above Battersea Power Station in a recreation of Pink Floyd's “Animals” album cover on September 26, 2011 in London, England. The classic Pink Floyd album artwork was recreated to mark the release of several digitally remastered versions of their albums. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

The Bricksy series has just been released on the artist’s website with accompanying reference thumbnails of the original Banksy work. As the site says, “Bricksy is an edgy, underground LEGO street artist. He is rumored to have inspired Banksy’s iconic works, or is that the other way around?” Classic images such as Kissing Coppers, Naked Man and Balloon Girl all get a 3D reimagining in LEGO form. Image: Brick Cowboy.