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OSGEMEOS

In the Corner of the Mind

London

May 4–Jun 18, 2022

Painting by OSGEMEOS

No.9 Cork Street

Mayfair, London W1S 3LL

Lehmann Maupin presents In the Corner of the Mind, an exhibition of new paintings by Brazilian artistic duo OSGEMEOS (b. São Paulo, Brazil, 1974; live and work in São Paulo, Brazil). In the Corner of the Mind marks the artists’ fifth solo presentation with the gallery. The London show precedes a highly anticipated solo exhibition of the artists’ work opening this fall at Centro de arte contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC Málaga) in Spain. 

As OSGEMEOS, twin brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo are perhaps best known as pioneers of Brazilian public art, with their work often featuring long-limbed yellow characters, vibrant colors, and elaborate patterns. Across their practice, OSGEMEOS have brought their distinctive style to a range of substrates—from building facades to discarded doors, from wood panels to canvas. The duo draws inspiration from a variety of art forms, including graffiti, animation, film, dance, and music, to create complex, highly imaginative works that fuse distinct cultural references and modes of artistic representation. While the artists find inspiration in numerous sources, their distinct visual language is always charged with personal significance, incorporating their family, travels, and their fantasy universe, which they have named “Tritez.” OSGEMEOS’ signature thinly outlined, yellow-hued figures, for example, recall the yellow-tinged light that permeated the artists’ childhood home, while their vast array of signs and symbols are often drawn from their own dreams, which, as twins, they frequently share.

Installation view of OSGEMEOS at Lehmann Maupin London
Installation Views: 1 of 4
Painting by OSGEMEOS

OSGEMEOS

No canto do pensamento / In the corner of the mind, 2022

Painting by OSGEMEOS

OSGEMEOS

Vagalume / Firefly, 2022

Painting by OSGEMEOS

OSGEMEOS

O canto do pássaro / The bird’s song, 2022

Painting by OSGEMEOS

OSGEMEOS

Prisma Dejavú / Déja Vu Prism, 2022

Painting by OSGEMEOS

OSGEMEOS

A vida é uma música onde você dança do seu jeito / Life is a song in which you dance your own way, 2022

Portrait of OSGEMEOS

OSGEMEOS (b. 1974, São Paulo, Brazil; live and work in São Paulo, Brazil), translated as “the twins" in Portuguese, is a collaborative art duo comprised of twin brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo. As children, the brothers developed a distinct way of playing and communicating through artistic language, but it was with the invasion of hip-hop, and the explosion of Brazilian culture during the 1980s that OSGEMEOS began to use art as a way of sharing their dynamic and magical universe with the public. Combining traditional, folkloric, and contemporary elements of Brazilian culture with graffiti, hip-hop, music, dreams and international youth culture, the artists have created an expansive body of work that includes murals, paintings, sculpture, site-specific installations, and video. They use a symbolic visual language often inspired by their dreams that, as twins, they claim to share. In addition to the use of bright colors and elaborate patterns, they are best known for their paintings that feature long-limbed yellow-skinned figures with thin outlines, enlarged faces, and simplified features. The yellow skin color indicates a universal figure, rather than a direct reference to a specific race or culture, which reflects the highly diverse population of Brazil and the world. The use of doors, canvas and mirrors, both literal—painting directly on discarded doors and incorporating reflective surfaces into their works—and as motifs, signal access to another realm or an entry point to the psyche, pulling viewers into their surreal and chimerical world.

Solo exhibitions of OSGEMEOS’ work have been organized by The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. (2024); Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil - Belo Horizonte, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2023); Centro de arte contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC Málaga), Málaga, Spain (2022); Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brazil (2021); Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2020); Storage by HyundaiCard, Seoul, South Korea (2020); Fosun Foundation, Shanghai, China (2020); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (2019); The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2018); Museu Casa do Pontal, Rio de Janeiro, (2015); Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA (2012); Berardo Collection Museum, Lisbon (2010); and Museum Het Domein, Sittard, Netherlands (2007).

Learn about the artist