‘We are like one artist’: These identical twins are in sync from graffiti to gallery

The Hirshhorn Museum will soon host an exhibit named OSGEMEOS: Endless Story, by twin brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo and curated by Marina Isgro. Shown here is “Retratos (Portraits),” 2023-2024. Maansi Srivastava for NPR Maansi Srivastava for NPR They finish each other’s sentences. They say they don’t need words to communicate. Their creativity is in sync. “We are like one artist,” says Gustavo Pandolfo. His identical twin brother Otavio nods in agreement, adding, “There is a conversation in the air flying there, but only we can listen [to] each other.” The Pandolfo brothers are best known as the artist duo Osgemeos. Os gemeos means twins in Portuguese. Their fantastical, playful artworks have graced murals, parks, trains, bridges, an airplane and countless other outdoor spaces around the world. Major museums, galleries and private collectors have acquired their works. For the 2004 Olympics in Athens, they painted a ginormous, 82-foot-high giant in his underwear. Portrait of OSGEMEOS. Filipe Berndt Filipe Berndt OSGEMEOS: Endless Story at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will be the largest U.S. retrospective of their work when it opens Sept. 29 in Washington, D.C. Sponsor Message “These guys have a way of just using their imagination to...