Gustavo and Otávio Pandolfo have been drawing together since they were 3 years old. When they were children, they used to share the same sheet of paper. At school, in 1982, when they were 8 years old, they say they tried to separate them so that they would pay more attention to classes.
That same year, there was a drawing contest at the school. “We did exactly the same drawing, separately, in separate classes. And we won”, says Otávio. This trophy, from school days, is one of the nearly thousand items in the exhibition OSGEMEOS: Our Secrets, which opens its doors today (12) at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Rio de Janeiro.
In nine rooms, the artists share their own story, childhood photographs, clothes sewn by their grandmother, the main artistic and affective influences, creative processes and important works. It is possible to have access to the first characters created by them and follow the following drawings until the current style.
For example, the original drawings of the panels of Milton Nascimento’s 2021 and 2022 shows are on display, as well as rare records, such as those of canvases made in partnership with Banksky, a British contemporary artist, known for political activism and anonymity. The canvases were shown in 2013, just for one day, at Banksy’s New York action.
Exhibition runs until January 23 – Reproduction CCBB Website
Playful and psychedelic character
The exhibition also has a playful and psychedelic character. “We are here to open our book for you, to open our chests, our souls, our hearts”, says Gustavo, who makes an invitation: “I would like to ask everyone to leave everything they have from their outside outside, and if connect with the inside of you. That they open their own interior and connect with the imaginary. Sometimes we forget the imaginary. It is an exhibition to connect with the imagination and enjoy.”
The exhibition is curated by the artists themselves and is inspired by the exhibition presented at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo and at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON), in Curitiba, between 2020 and 2022. Some elements, however, are different. The giant sculpture of the famous yellow-skinned character, who was seated in MON, is now standing with open arms. Below him, a kind of temple, with colorful staircases. Its interior has for the first time installation and projection that can be accessed by the public.
Another unprecedented space is a bedroom, observed only through a small window, where you can see a moon lying on the bed. The idea came a week before the opening. “There was an empty space and we thought there had to be a place for the moon to sleep”, says Otávio.
The twins were born in 1974, in São Paulo, in the Cambuci neighborhood, and have always worked together. They are heavily influenced by the culture hip hop, whose championships took place on their doorsteps when they were children. They have the street as a place of study and are known worldwide for their graffiti. Often seen as vandalism, the graffiti ends up being erased by the government. One of the exhibition rooms concentrates records of erased works, which no longer exist on the walls and facades of cities.
Yesterday (11), Gustavo and Otávio guided the press through the works and memories. Paulo Portella Filho, who implemented and coordinated the activities of the Educational Service of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo between 1975 and 1987 was among the visitors. It was in this program that the twins had their first contact with sprays, as children. During the visit, the brothers thanked Filho, who was very emotional.
“The museum had free art classes and they went to do it. There, they used sprays for the first time. This shows the extreme importance of the educational area of art centers, these places can and should dare in the perspective of art education, in the most liberating way that can help everyone to dream”, says Filho.
OSGEMEOS has already held numerous individual and group shows in museums and galleries in several countries, such as Cuba, Chile, the United States, Italy, Spain, England, Germany, Lithuania and Japan. The attempt to separate them at school did not work. They go together. “We are twin brothers who like to draw together. He makes a line and I finish, if he picks up the pen, I know what he’s going to draw”, says Gustavo.
The exhibition, which starts today (12), can be visited until January 23, 2023. The CCBB is located at Rua Primeiro de Maio 66, in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
The exhibition can be visited on Mondays and from Wednesday to Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm and on Sundays from 9 am to 8 pm. Admission is free and tickets can be picked up at the CCBB physical box office or on the website bb.com.br/cultura. Tickets scheduled by time will have priority at entry. People with tickets per shift must wait for the CCBB team’s entry guidance.
