Making a splash
Brazilian twins showcase a wide range of artworks in a lively Shanghai exhibition that creates a fantasy world
With lighthearted music, anti-gravity balloons adorned with smiley faces, glitter, pompoms and fairy-tale imagery, the exhibition, You Are My Guest, at the Fosun Foundation Shanghai is one that will likely have visitors smiling throughout.
The exhibition is the first by Osgemeos, which means “the twins” in Portuguese, in China and features a wide range of artworks including paintings, sculptures, installations and videos by Brazilian twins Octavio and Gustavo Pandolfo.
“The artists wanted to create a bright, lively and fun atmosphere with the background music,” said Song Jiaran, a member of the curatorial team at Fosun.
“They want to invite audiences to be guests in their fantasy world.”
In a video message to audiences, the brothers said their art is meant to create a fantasy world that people can step into and recall their childhoods.
The artworks on display, added Song, have been influenced by the street art, pop and youth culture that were prevalent in Brazil during the twins’ growing up years in the 1980s.
Since they were born, the duo have developed their own way of playing and communicating with each other through artistic languages. The brothers first fell in love with pop music, making hip-hop music and taking up breakdancing as teenagers with the encouragement of their parents.
The streets where they played also became their classroom, and it was there that they explored various techniques of painting, drawing and sculpture. Through years of graffiti creation, Osgemeos built a universe of their dreams and inspirations.
In the past few years, the duo’s works have been exhibited across the world, in the Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh in the United States, the Museu do Pontal in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and the Museum Het Domein in Sittard in the Netherlands.
They have also been commissioned to create large public projects such as the HangarBicocca in Milan, Italy, and the Times Square Advertising Coalition’s Midnight Moment project, Parallel Connection, in New York.
A group of large balloon-like structures with human faces painted on the surface, like bubbles emerging from the ground, greet audiences at the entrance of the exhibition hall on the second floor of Fosun Foundation Shanghai.
“They represent all human beings with no differentiation of race or nationality,” Song said. “The artists invite everybody to be their guest.”
The installations and paintings on show feature the use of a wide range of materials, from recycled ornamental houses to used doors, furry balls, spray paint and even sequins.
In a video projection on the thirdfloor hall, the two brothers are seen painting an artwork at the same time, displaying a tacit understanding between them as one would pick up where the other had left off.
The brothers were about to have an exhibition at the Pinacoteca Museum, which they believed to be the most important contemporary art museum in South America, at the beginning of 2020 when the pandemic broke out.
This forced them to improvise in many areas so that they could take care of themselves, their family and friends, as well as the museum crew during the shutdown, the brothers said in their video message.
“It was crazy, but we managed to open the show, one that was totally different from one in normal situations. We try to do as much as we can. We try to be strong and do more art,” the brothers said.
“This exhibition (in Shanghai) is at a weird moment, but it is important to have an opportunity to share our world, our history, our imagination with you guys. It is kind of like opening a door or window for everybody to fly away from the darkness.
“We hope people can come to the You Are My Guest show and feel the energy we like to show in our paintings. We will bring some love and hope to everyone, especially in this moment in time. We hope to come to Shanghai, as soon as possible, and see the city and our show there.”