OSGEMEOS (also known as Os Gemeos or Os Gêmeos, Portuguese for ''The Twins'') are identical twin street artists Otavio Pandolfo and Gustavo Pandolfo (born 1974). They started painting graffiti in 1987 and their work appears on streets and in galleries across the world.
Style
Their work has been described as "escapist fantasies," notable for its dreamy, illustrative, and patterned style. Observers have compared this dream-like aesthetic to the works of
Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...
and
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher (; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints.
Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in t ...
.
Their work often features yellow-skinned characters—taken from the yellow tinge both of the twins have in their dreams—but is otherwise diverse and ranges from tags to complicated
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s. Subjects range from family portraits to commentary on São Paulo's social and political circumstances, as well as
Brazilian folklore. Their graffiti was influenced by both traditional hip hop and Brazilian culture.
Influences
The twins started out as
breakdancer
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...
s and got involved with graffiti later on. Their first graffiti emulated early New York City hip hop pieces.
It was some years before they began to put Brazilian cultural elements and influences into their graffiti.
Their first significant artistic influence outside their immediate environment, and their limited access to American hip hop (''
Style Wars
''Style Wars'' is an American 1983 documentary film on hip hop culture, directed by Tony Silver and produced in collaboration with Henry Chalfant. The film has an emphasis on graffiti, although bboying and rapping are covered to a lesser extent. T ...
'', ''
Subway Art
''Subway Art'' is a collaborative book by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, which documents the early history of the New York City graffiti movement. Originally published in 1984, the book has been described as a "landmark photographic history". ...
'', ''
Beat Street
''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to var ...
''), stemmed from a chance encounter with
Barry McGee
Barry McGee (born 1966) is an American contemporary artist. He is a well known graffiti artist, and a pioneer of the Mission School art movement. McGee is known by his monikers: Twist, Ray Fong, Bernon Vernon, and P.Kin.
Life and education
Barry ...
(also known as Twist), who was in Brazil for several months on a study abroad program through the
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...
in 1993. Technique and experience were shared, and McGee provided photographs of American graffiti. Through McGee, OSGEMEOS met Allen Benedikt (founder of ''12oz Prophet Magazine'' and also part Brazilian), who together with Caleb Neelon (also known as Sonik) was the first to interview them after a trip to Brazil in 1997 (in ''12oz Prophet Magazine'' Issue 6; 1998), which became OSGEMEOS' introduction to audiences outside of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.
Notable public works
Brazil
There have been many works by OSGEMEOS made in Brazil. As of the early 2000s a couple of graffiti artists, OSGEMEOS included, were invited to paint trains legally.
This raised OSGEMEOS' profile, helping them transition to large-scale public commissioned work, such as murals (for example the
Paulista Avenue
Paulista Avenue (Avenida Paulista in Portuguese, ''Paulista'' being the demonym for those born in the state of São Paulo) is one of the most important avenues in São Paulo, Brazil. It stretches and runs northwest to southeast. Its northwest p ...
mural).
In 2009, they painted a mural in Vale de Anhangabau, São Paulo, commissioned by the SESC Brazil.
Titled "The Foreigner," the piece was originally scheduled to be shown for thirty days, but public approval allowed it to remain until the demolition of the building in 2012.
For the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
in Brazil, the duo were commissioned to decorate the national soccer team's official
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...
aeroplane. The project used over 1,200 cans of spray paint to depict the diversity of Brazilian culture.
Asia
In 2008, OSGEMEOS painted several works in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, India; many of were still visible in 2016. More recently, OSGEMEOS exhibitied at Art Basel in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
through the
Lehmann Maupin gallery.
Europe
OSGEMEOS painted a 16 m by 10 m mural in the centre of
Heerlen
Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg.
...
, the Netherlands. This painting was part of the cultural festival Cultura Nova. It was the inspiration for the large opening act where the head character came to life in association with the French group La Plasticiens Volant. The show "L'Etranger" premiered on 29 August 2008 and was one-off seen at Cultura Nova. The wall painting continues to be preserved and is shown on the Schelmenhofje in Heerlen, the Netherlands.
In 2008 OSGEMEOS painted six large-scale murals on
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...
in London, for the three month duration of the exhibition.
Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
also features many works by OSGEMEOS.
In 2010 and 2011, OSGEMEOS painted two large-scale murals on the sides of buildings.
The project was planned by a public private commission and is considered representative of the Portuguese-Brazilian cultural relationship.
OSGEMEOS participated in the Vulica Brasil mural festival in
Minsk, Belarus
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the adm ...
in 2015 and 2017. This is a cross-cultural mural festival that is "organized with the official support of the Embassy of Brazil in Belarus, the Minsk City Executive Committee, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus and the Leninsky District Administration of Minsk." The festival features artists from Brazil and Belarus collaborating on mural productions in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk.
Other cities in Europe which feature the work of OSGEMEOS include
Vilnius, Lithuania
Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...
;
Milan, Italy
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4  ...
;
Minsk, Belarus
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the adm ...
; and
Berlin, Germany
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...
.
North America
Their first solo exhibition the United States was held at the
Luggage Store Gallery in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
in spring 2003 and was titled "Pavil" (or "Wick"); they also created a 25-foot by 15-foot mural on the side of the Luggage Store Gallery building on
Market Street Market Street may refer to:
*Market Street, Cambridge, England
*Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
* Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
*Market Street, Manchester, England
*Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
...
.
As part of the Dreamland Artist Club 2005 project, they painted a 130-foot mural in
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
on Stillwell Ave. In 2009, OSGEMEOS painted their first mural in Manhattan on the northwest corner of Houston Street and the Bowery.
The colorful, fantastic, and imaginative composition was compared to a work of
magical realism
Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to:
* Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse
* "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr
* '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...
. One of their works is a wall in
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
painted for Art Basel Miami Beach. Other cities include Boston and Los Angeles.
In 2012, OSGEMEOS painted a 70-foot by 70-foot public mural in Dewey Square in
Boston, Massachusetts, which received public backlash.
The piece, created in collaboration with the
ICA and Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, depicted a young, yellow figure with its face wrapped in a red shirt.
On a segment for Fox 25 News, commentators linked the image to racially charged, post-
9/11
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
fears of
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
.
Meanwhile, ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' considered it to be a successful
public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
work.
As the original commission was only temporary, the work was removed on schedule in 2013.
In 2014, OSGEMEOS created their largest piece to date, titled "Giants," for the
Vancouver Biennale in
Vancouver, Canada
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...
on six industrial silos.
Large and expensive, the work is notable in that it was paid for through
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
.
Fine art
OSGEMEOS have exhibited fine art pieces across the world, including paintings,
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
s,
installations, drawings, and
performance pieces.
In 2013, they collaborated with
luxury
Luxury may refer to:
* Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises
*Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars
**Luxury tax (sports), surcharge pu ...
brand
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
to design a scarf, alongside artist
Retna
RETNA (born Marquis Lewis 1979) is a contemporary artist, primarily recognized for graffiti art. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and started his career in the early 1990s. He developed a distinctive constructed script which is ...
and
Lady Aiko
Aiko Nakagawa (born 1975), known as Lady Aiko or AIKO, is a Japanese street artist based in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. She is known for her ability to combine western art movements and Eastern art, eastern technical, artistic skills, as well ...
. In 2016, an Untitled 2009 piece from OSGEMEOS sold for over $300,000 at market.
In Chelsea New York, a portrait of the twins was commissioned by a NYC street art program the New Allen. Painted by Jorit Agoch, the work can be found on Allen Street in
Chelsea, NYC.
Exhibitions (selected)
* 2007!: ''Waking Up Nights'', de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich.
* 2007: ''Still on and non the wiser'', Von der Heydt-Museum, Kunsthalle Barmen, Wuppertal DE.
* 2008: ''fresh air smells funny'', Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück DE.
* 2008: ''Call it what you like!'', KunstCentret Silkeborg Bad DK.
* 2010: ''Pra quem mora lá, o céu é lá - Berardo Museum'' Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art, Lisbon
* 2010: ''Nos de um anjo'', Galleria Patricia Armocida, Milano
* 2011: ''Street Art – meanwhile in deepest east anglia, thunderbirds were go…'', Von der Heydt-Museum, Kunsthalle Barmen, Wuppertal DE.
* 2012: ''OSGEMEOS, Miss You'', Prism, West Hollywood, CA
* 2012: ''OSGEMEOS'', ICA - Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Boston, MA
* 2014: ''OSGEMEOS. A Ópera Da Lua'', Galeria Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo
Films
* ''
Bomb It
''Bomb It'' is an international graffiti and street art documentary directed by Jon Reiss that premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Filmed on five continents, featuring cities such as New York, Cape Town, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo, ...
'' (2007) by
Jon Reiss
Jon Reiss is a film producer and director, and an author. He has made the feature film ''Cleopatra's Second Husband'' (1998) and the documentaries '' Better Living Through Circuitry'' (1999) and '' Bomb It'' (2007). He has directed music vi ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
* Assum Preto, 2008
Libri Aparte
External links
*
{{Authority control
1974 births
Living people
Brazilian graffiti artists
Brazilian artists
Identical twins
Brazilian twins
Graffiti artists
Street artists