Unico is the narrowest sense to describe this Antenore.
In English, “One-Off” is the clear translation, but in reality, for Stelbel, the meaning of uniqueness applies to all frames we create, not just one. There is nothing standard, there is no Stelbel frame that is identical to another.
And in this cornerstone of our production, the adjective “Unico” for this Antenore frame, crafted by the artist and friend Luca Longhi, is superfluous and taken for granted; what remains is the uniqueness of his art.
My name is Luca Longhi, I’m from Bergamo, I am a painter and I am a cyclist.
Around 10 years ago, I moved to London as I wanted to become a painter. I know it may seem strange to leave a country full of art to study art abroad, but I felt the need to leave my background and escape my comfort zone. At the time, I felt confined and not very free in my hometown, so I decided to explore my options elsewhere.
I wanted to connect with the contemporary art world and learn more, so I enrolled at the University of Art in London and decided to move….”
With Stelbel, I experienced a natural flow of ideas that made me curious to see how my art would look on a steel bike. So, we came up with the idea of painting a frame, and a few weeks later, I received a stainless steel Antenore frame at my studio.
At first, I felt both panic and excitement simultaneously. I was unsure of where to start, what to do, how to make it unique, and how to maintain its similarities. Many questions were running through my mind. I have never painted a bike frame before.
I always worked on a flat surface, so painting a 3-dimensional object was challenging. But, I just had to trust my instinct and start.
In my painting process, I observe, research, and include non-conventional materials. My curiosity leads me in many directions and allows me to find the wrong methods for the right reason.
When I work, I am looking to reproduce memories and atmospheres; how signs and layers coexist, relate, and create relationships. When I work, I am looking to reproduce memories and atmospheres; how signs and layers coexist, relate, and create relationships. There is a sense of decay – that all is subsequent after time. Yet, rather than the romanticized idea of abandonment, I want to dwell on the incompleteness of memories and that which remains. Traits that I wanted to include in the frame as well.
When I started the project, I was working on a painting for a possible show and I had the frame nearby. While looking at them together, I thought of working on the painting and simultaneously on the bike.
To treat the Antenore as a painting, I wanted to paint it as an instinctive performance of decisions: resolving, erasing, building, cutting, sticking, composing, combining, covering, scratching, adding, removing, breaking, vandalizing, re-covering, and resuscitating are some of the qualities I desire in my work.
I wanted to create a frame that looks dynamic and fast and to achieve this, I decided to use contrasting colors. Natural and artificial elements, and give the frame an edgy and expressive look. All qualities that are important in practice too.
If cycling is a fast activity, in my work, I am the opposite. I am a slow painter and I need breaks to detach from my paintings before returning to them.
The project took nearly a year to complete, but I was happy with the final result.
