Bikes

The Bikes collection brings Matt Josef’s lifelong passion for cycling into the studio.

Since childhood, bikes have been a constant source of freedom, movement, challenge, and joy. A few years ago, Josef began incorporating that passion into his painting practice, exploring the bicycle not just as an object, but as a symbol of grit, rhythm, endurance, and spirit.

For Josef, the cyclist and the cowboy share a similar mythology. Both are shaped by motion, discipline, solitude, risk, and heart. The bike becomes a modern-day iron horse, carrying the rider through effort, terrain, speed, and self-discovery.

These works connect cycling culture with the larger visual language of Josef’s practice: Western imagery, repetition, bold color, layered surfaces, and expressive mark-making. Riders appear in motion, suspended between control and chaos, strength and vulnerability, grind and grace.

Bikes is an ongoing collection, and Josef plans to continue exploring this subject through new paintings, commissions, and collaborations. For collectors who love cycling, movement, endurance, and the spirit of the ride, this series celebrates the heartbeat inside both rider and machine.