Born in 1974, in Sao Paulo, identical twins, Otavio and Gustavo began their careers in street art in the mid-1980s, depicting the regional cultures of Brazil in the walls of Sao Paulo. The brothers’ work is linked to their experience in the city, the great melting pot of Brazilian culture.
Their works are focused on building a proper and peculiar imaginary and mix elements of folklore with other elements linked to the development of art born in the streets. The paintings follow the tradition of a picture, with central characters in multicolored patterns and surrounded by a surreal aura. The dreamlike facilities incorporate cars, boats and giant kinetic puppets to wall painting on a large scale.
In 1993, OSGEMEOS started participating in group exhibitions. Six years later, their creations have entered the international scene of contemporary urban art, and also in the supply chain in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Cuba, Japan, China, Australia and in the United States, where they are represented by Deitch Projects, the same art gallery that represents Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
In 2007, OSGEMEOS were invited to paint the historic castle of Kelburn, in Ayrshire, one of the most important in Scotland. In 2008, os gêmeos painted the famous façade of Tate Modern in London, the temple of international contemporary art. In June this year, they colored, in New York, the big wall painted by Keith Haring in 1982, which immortalized the intersection of Bowery and Houston. The work pays homage to the 50th anniversary of the artist and received excellent reviews from Roberta Smith in the NY Times: "A fantastic and epic mural, a dream of happiness drawn to melancholy. Magical realism.
OSGEMEOS’ Exhibitions
Individual exihibitions
2009 Vertigo, CCBB – Cultural Center of Bank of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro;
MAB – Brazilian Art Museu, Sao Paulo.
2008 Too Far Too Close, Deitch Project Gallery, New York;
Vertigo, Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Curitiba;
Galeria Pilar Parra & Romero, Madrid.
2007 The Flowers of this Garden my Grandmothers Planted, Museum Het Domein Sittard, Sittard, Netherlands;
Design, Galeria Fortes Vilaca, São Paulo.
2006 The fish that ate shooting stars, Galeria Fortes Vilaca, São Paulo.
2005 Marginal Knight, Deitch Project Gallery, New York;
Creative Time Project, Coney Island
Nike Tour, Fire House - New York; Milan, Paris - National Stadium, Tokyo, Hong Kong, London;
Watermill, Robert Wilson Center, New York;.
2004 Luz Station, Sao Paulo.
Collective exhibitions
2009 Nudes, Galeria Fortes Vilaça & Galeria Bergamin, São Paulo;
The Portrait Show, Durex Arte Contemporânea, Rio de Janeiro;
When Lives Become Form: Creative Power from Brazil, Hiroshima City - Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan.
2008 Imaginary Realities, Max Wigram Gallery, London;
Salon National Des Beaux-Arts, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris;
When Lives Become Form: Creative Power from Brazil, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT).
2007 Animal World, Escola São Paulo, São Paulo;
Wakin up Nights, de Pury and Luxembourg, Zurich;
Kunsthalle Barmen, Von Der Heydt Museum Wuppertal, Germany;
Musée International des Arts Modestes (MIAM), Sète, France.
2006 9º Bienal de la Havana, Havana
Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture, Triennale di Milano, Milan;
Paralela 2006, Parque do Ibirapuera, São Paulo.
2005 Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture, Orange County
Museum of Art, Newport Beach, United States;
The Smell of the rain, Deitch Project in Miami Art Basel, Miami.
2004 Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture, Contemporary
Arts Center in Cincinnati;
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
Regellos, Halle2, Heidelberg, Germany;
Gra(ff)ite, Alhambra, USA;
Montana Shop, Barcelona,
Urbis Museum, Manchester, England
2003 Break, New Image Gallery, Los Angeles;
CubaBrasil, Regla, Havana, Piñar Del Rio, Cuba;
Pavil, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco.
2002 Area2010, Sydney, Australia
Chromopolis, paneling in Athens Olympic Games, Athens;
Global Grafitti Art, Anne Moerchen Galerie, Hamburg;
I don´t know, Die Faerberei Galerie, Munich;
I don´t know, Die Faerberei Galerie, Munich;
Kanvas, Kassel, Germany;
Toleranci, Galerie Ecureuil, Niort, France
Schlachthof Cultural Center, Wiesbaden, Germany;
Urban Dicipline, Hamburg.
2001 50 years of São Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo;
Galerie du Jour Agnes B, Paris;
Global Mural, São Paulo;
Tokion Store, Nova York;
Urban Discipline, 2001, Hamburg.
2000 Graffiti aus São Paulo Brasilien, Die Färberei, Munich;
Just write my name, Bremen, Germany;
Academie der Kunste, Berlin;
Agenda 21 project, Hildeshein, Germany;
Galerie Ecureuil, Niort, France;
Urban Discpline, Hamburg.
1999 Livin Large, Munich;
ISART, Munich;
1998 One minute of Silence, FUNARTE, São Paulo.
1993 MIS Gallery – Museum of Image and Sound, São Paulo.
Special Projects
2008 Street Art, Tate Modern, London;
2007 The Graffiti Project, Kelburn Castle, Airshire, Scotland;
2005 Expresso Arte – The painting on two trains of CPTM – São Paulo Train Company, São Paulo;
2004 Trensurb - Pintura de trens do metrô de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre.
