OSGEMEOS

Jul  3-27, 2007


Galeria Fortes Vilaça

The new exhibition of works by osgemeos at Galeria Fortes Vilaça presents 30 original drawings that reiterate the creativity and inventiveness of the Pandolfo brothers. These works were selected among hundreds of drawings by the artists, themselves compulsive and highly accomplished draftsmen. The show is of an intimist nature, which is something totally surprising in view of who the artists are. Here, spectators will find neither saturated colors and shimmer, nor an escalating occupation of space; rather, they will find the brothers' skillful handling of pen on paper.

All the drawings on show are small-format; originally, many of them served as studies for street paintings, others were conceived merely to be rendered on paper. The older drawings, dated from up to three years ago, were folded up and taken around, tucked inside the twin's clothing pockets. They are time-worn and bear traces of their roles as sketches, such as scribblings, soiled spots, and even blotches of spray paint.

osgemeos investigate elements of a fantastic world that populate a dream realm. They render fictional characters such as those with wide faces – a trademark of the duo -, naked female figures, and mermaids portrayed next to giant fish, cats, snails, etc. A reference to culture and the folk imaginary is also found in the artists' versions of such popular legends as boi bumba and negrinho do pastoreio. The result is a surprisingly delicate linework and rich, painstaking details.

A few works bear text fragments that not always relate directly with the drawing. They are loose phrases that end up unchaining amusing dialogues between the characters. The drawings on show are all self-contained, there is no narrative linking them.

The artistic duo's creative process is simultaneous; they work on a same piece of paper, at the same time. According to them, there is no particular limit to the creative activity; in fact, there is no limit at all. In Drawing, osgemeos offer viewers the possibility to glimpse at the early thinking and linework that have yielded their prolific oeuvre.

In recent times, the twins joined The Graffiti Project, along with other Brazilian artists selected to inscribe with drawings the walls of an 800 year-old castle in a rural area of Scotland – the first castle in history to have its walls covered with graffiti. In 2007 they have also shown solo at the Museum Het Domein of Sittard, Holland.

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