It’s said that two heads are better than one, but that can be difficult when it comes to expressing one’s creativity and personal identity in art. OSGEMEOS, FAILE and Monkeybird are some of the most exciting duos in contemporary art today due to creating their own artistic languages and comfortability in playing with design, color, and shape that only comes with knowing one another as well as one’s self.
Brazilian born identical twin artists OSGEMEOS, Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo, began creating together very young when introduced to hip-hop culture in the 1980s. Besides their birth connection, OSGEMEOS translated literally means The Twins, the two were unafraid to use their home as inspiration for an eye-catching, unique style and graffiti influence, as seen in Close Encounters, 2016. Their power of imagination stems from their experiences as children and has been an inspiration for many years. What makes their art so special is the power of intense connection between the twins. “It feels as though there is a thread, always keeping us connected, even when we are far away from each other. It is an everlasting bond”. (OSGEMEOS.com)
96x72cm
Signed on the rigor side corner
The physical enormity of Monkeybird’s work is simply a truthful representation of the Bordeaux based duo’s influence in line and stencil work across the globe. Seen mostly on building sides, walls, and in large spaces and more recently on indoor mediums such as reclaimed wood in Cephalophore 1 and Cephalaphore 2, 2015; their ability to create such intricate designs in the most expansive mediums is attested to their longevity as creative partners. The two found each other after needing changes in their own respective fields, constructing socially conscious designs with the Temor the Monkey (the realist) and Blow the Bird (the dreamer) bridging the gaps between their own individual styles and the intellectual/spiritual worlds of mankind.
60x32in
152.4x81.28cm
FAILE is a Booklyn based collaboration by Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller begun in 1999 which quite literally is the piecing together of techniques and mediums to create highly intense masterpieces. Originally a trio of creative minds with Akio Nakagawa, a Japanese born filmmaker, this partnership took to the streets to display their experimental and bold style. Allowing the flow of creativity and the initial immediacy of having to quickly create on the streets has fortified a distinct style and iconic sense of one another’s innovative natures. Savage Sacred Young Minds, 2015 is a brilliant example of how collaboration is truly the root of how FAILE has stayed in the contemporary art game for more than a decade.
36x24in
91.4x61cm
Framed
Where many artists feel the need to avoid collaboration, these collective gamechangers are creating exciting and innovative contemporary art that will last lifetimes. Because when it comes to the spirit of art, the more the merrier, no?
Who is your partner in creative crime? Share with us @5art_gallery or come visit in person.
