OSGEMEOS
Mural Arts Philadelphia
Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Boston
August - November 2012
Made on the occasion of their first solo exhibition in the United States, at the ICA Boston, OSGEMEOS created a temporary, monumental mural entitled The Giant of Boston on the façade of the Dewey Square Air Intake Structure on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Embracing the unique architecture of the building by using the barrel vault to form the character's head, the figure appears to have squeezed himself between the nearby towering buildings, peering out at the busy city life unfolding below. Yellow-hued characters such as this one are an iconic and recurrent feature in Os Gemeos' work, and are frequently shown wearing whimsical hats, colorful hoods or scarves, the latter a nod to the way graffiti artists often use a shirt—which is what is wrapped around this character’s head—to protect them from the sun and spray paint.
Within the ICA, the exhibition consisted of a dozen works, primarily large paintings. In contrast to previous exhibitions, were the artists saturated the gallery space with artworks, objects and color, OSGEMEOS allowed me to hang their work in a more traditional style. The saturation in previous exhibitions had an overwhelming immersive effect which made it difficult to focus on a single work at a time. The idea at the ICA was to hang the works on white walls with ample space between them, in order to create a narrative that allowed the appreciation of each work individually and the corresponding themes and ideas within. The themes that arose were the history of graffiti and hip-hop culture, rural Brazil and the mental landscapes shared by the twin brothers.
Adjunct Curator: Pedro Alonzo
IG @osgemeos / www.osgemeos.com
Photo credits: Geoff Hargadon, Charles Mayer