Brazilian street art brings new experience to Shanghai

With bold colors, sharp lines and surreal scenes, street art from Brazil brings a different cultural feast to the audience in Shanghai this winter.

OSGEMEOS, a famous Brazilian street artist duo of twin brothers Gustavo Pandolfo and Otavio Pandolfo, opened their exhibition at the Shanghai Fosun Foundation on the last day of 2020. Titled You Are My Guest, the show will last till Feb 26.

"It was difficult to put this show together when the whole world had to stop because of the pandemic," Otavio Pandolfo told Xinhua during an online interview.

Due to COVID-19, the two artists could not personally present their work in Shanghai, nor could they participate in the exhibition's offline planning and preparations. However, they created a network with staff members from the Fosun Foundation in Shanghai via e-mails and video links.

After months of online communication and arrangements, they managed to send over 200 art pieces to Shanghai. "We try to find the best way to share our works with all the guests that visit the show," he said.

Popular around the world, the duo has held and participated in exhibitions in countries including the United States, Portugal and Finland. Before coming to Shanghai, the exhibition was also held in the Republic of Korea.

"You Are My Guest is an invitation for everyone to jump inside our imagination, and we like to share this with everybody," he said, adding that the exhibits were presented in a multi-media way, including large-scale paintings, art installations, and sound pieces.

Born and living in Sao Paulo, the duo infuse their works with Brazilian cultural elements, such as local folklore, hip hop music and breakdancing, and hope the exhibition would give Chinese audiences a glimpse of Brazilian culture.

"It was a difficult year for everyone in many different ways," said Gustavo Pandolfo. "We hope that with this exhibition we can bring some hope, energy and light, and people can think of something colorful, fun, happy and with love."