Os Gêmeos (Brazilian, b.1974) is the collaborative street art project of identical twin brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo. They started doing graffiti around São Paolo, Brazil, in 1987. In 1993, they met San Francisco street artist
Barry McGee (a.k.a. Twist) and collaborated with him on murals around São Paolo. McGee also influenced the brothers’ shift from working on street murals to creating site-specific installations and paintings for
galleries. Many of Os Gêmeos’ murals and paintings are centered on characters that show us a fantasy world called “Tritez.” Their work uses a largely yellow palette; when the brothers started doing graffiti around the city, it was a color easy to see from far away, and these yellow works were easily recognizable as Os Gêmeos’ pieces. It is also a color that they see a lot in their dreams. The brothers started participating in group exhibits in the late 1990’s in Germany, and since then have had solo shows, and have been a part of group shows around the world. Their March 2012 solo show
Miss You at
Prism in Los Angeles, CA, was composed of paintings, murals, sculptures, and light installations that turned the gallery into a bright, colorful Os Gêmeos wonderland. The show also featured an interactive digital sculpture where the viewer would become a giant yellow head while inside the work. Os Gêmeos still live and work in São Paolo.