Amid a socially distanced world, the creative powerhouse that is Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, better known as OSGEMEOS, managed to open a large presentation in Seoul, a solo show in New York, and, after a six month delay, are currently enjoying, a museum exhibition in their hometown at the Pinacoteca de Sao Paulo through February 22nd, 2021. The museum’s first panoramic exhibition of the twins, OSGEMEOS: Segredos (Secrets), counts more than 1,000 items from their rich oeuvre, and we’re excited about seeing the first photos of this spectacular presentation

This display, the continuation of OSGEMEOS' ongoing series of institutional shows worldwide, most recently included the performance project at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, produced and realized in partnership with the breakdance group Flying Steps in 2019. Prior to that, the brothers participated in the Vancouver Biennale in 2014 with a giant-size mural, at LA MOCA's Art in the Streets museum survey of graffiti and street art in 2011, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and Tate Modern in London in 2008, as well as the Milano Trienale all the way back in 2006. To wrap it up, the various elements of all those presentations can be discovered in Secrets, an immersive exhibition of paintings, site-specific interventions, sound installations, sculptures, drawings, and notebooks.

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Reflecting the show’s title,  notebooks dating from their early teenage years are being shown to the public for the first time, revealing fascinating details of their work these past 20+ years. Presenting their unprecedented creative, mental, and physical journey, Secrets introduces how the teen B-boys from Cambuci, an old immigrant working-class neighborhood of São Paulo forged a creative path to become world-renowned art icons. Their explosive, unstoppable creative energy is evident in the layout of the show, as well as nods to some of their previous blockbuster exhibitions. Seven exhibition rooms of the first floor,  a courtyard and several indoor and outdoor spaces are fully loaded, including the Octagon, which holds a specially-designed installation. In fact, everything from the institution's facade, to items in the museum's store, all the way to the electronic signatures of  museum employees will be changed to the new, OSGEMEOS identity through the entire run. Finally, OSGEMEOS: Segredos (Secrets) will be documented with the release of two catalogs in both Portuguese and English, one including various texts and images of the exhibition and of other projects, and another featuring views of the exhibition.

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Originally planned for March 28,  the exhibition was conceived for in-person viewing, enabling full immersion in the brothers’ fantastical world. Unwilling to rob visitors of that experience, the artists and museum waited patiently for their opportunity which arrived through sponsorship by the reinsurance company IRB Brazil RE which offered free entry to all visitors. Such wide access to culture for everyone was realized in a group effort to offer healing, comfort and culture to their country.  It’s been their life’s work, and couldn’t come at a better time. —Sasha Bogojev

Photos by Isabela Matheus and Levi Fanan