Lot 18: Untitled2002

Untitled 2002 acrylic and spray paint on canvas 100 by 100 cm. 39 3/8 by 39 3/8 in. This work was executed in 2002.

100 by 100 cm

Hamburg, Astra Brewery, Urban Discipline, 2002 Osnabrück, Kunsthalle, Fresh air smells funny, 2008

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Since 1987 identical twins Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo have been at the forefront of the graffiti art movement in their native Sao Paolo and can now claim with justification to be the most influential graffiti writers of their generation. Their signature style features at its core the human figure as perceived through their shared dreams, tinged with yellow and inhabiting the fringes of society; rendered in spray-paint in often staggering scale. The sheer bravura of their murals is often breath-taking in their complexity and imaginative fearlessness and act as an irresistible counter-point to their more intimate studio pieces. Untitled, 2002 by Os Gemeos features their trademark avatar, a combined self-portrait surrounded by floating references to hearth and home, ideas that are central to their oeuvre. Family is a subject that drives their creativity and so the act of coming together to share food and wine appeals to the folkloric, intensely local themes of their best work. Unlike many examples from their studio production this canvas shows heavy texture and evidence of sustained overworking and layering which only adds to the freshness of the piece. The figure recollects their breakout image on the façade of London's Tate Modern in 2008, as part of the seminal mural project 'Street Art' along with fellow luminaries, Blu, Faile and JR.