Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Two bikes from Death Spray Custom and Stevie Gee

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When one has had their fill of custom track, randonneurs, and mountain bikes, there can appear to be only a few avenues left to the bicycle savant. One popular option is custom paint.

The leader in this field is a one-man shop in the UK: David Gwyther’s Death Spray Custom. And when he teamed up with artist Stevie Gee, also originating from the UK, the result was nothing short of spectacular.

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Featuring two bikes, El Capitane (inspired by Ernest Hemingway—himself a keen cyclist) and Figo Vengeance (a shaman Sioux), Stevie generated an exhibition around a fabled and legendary race. Paintings adorned the walls, while sculptures and the bikes created a three-dimensional environment.

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London custom bike shop Tour de Ville supplied two slender, vintage track frames, and Death Spray Custom applied the base coat (including a Keirin-inspired sparkle in the paint of El Capitane). Stevie Gee’s eclectic illustrative style was finally administered, and endowed the bikes with two contrasting personalities.

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The exhibition, titled ‘Vengeance is Coming’ was up and running before we could visit, but thankfully Stevie’s website has a gallery of photos from the opening, so we can see what we missed out on.

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Big thanks to Richard Baybutt for the excellent photography.

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