The flowers in this garden were planted by my grandparents is the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands of Brazilian twin brothers Os Gemeos. ‘The Twins’ (1974, São Paulo), as their name translates from the Portuguese, are renowned for their colourful and imaginative figurative work on walls and in installations.

Os Gemeos developed their unmistakable style, a fusion of countless influences, through their work as graffiti artists. Brazilian myths, personal family history and people they meet are all vital sources of inspiration. But political themes like homelessness and the war against terror also feature in their work. On the street, only fragments of a fascinating imaginative world are visible; in an exhibition context, a three-dimensional installation develops where surrealist landscapes rub shoulders with urban and contemporary archetypes. Inside, within the space-filling installation, viewers can peer through the walls at an inner world where reality and fantasy merge in a narrative of colour.

In addition to their street-inspired oeuvre, Os Gemeos (Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo) also studied at the Academy for Design and Communication in São Paulo. In 2005 Deitch Projects in New York presented an exhibition by Os Gemeos. In the same year, Stijn Huijts invited the twins to create a temporary mural in the context of Weird Walls during Cultura Nova in Heerlen. In early 2007 a temporary work was also exhibited in Tilburg during Public Image – Painting the City. In Sao Paolo, they signed to gallery Fortes Vilaça as recently as 2007.

The catalogue accompanying the exhibition is the first to document the murals produced by the twins over the last few years. The essays are by Renato da Silvaen and Siba Veloso of the Brazilian music and theatre group Siba e a Fuloresta, for which Os Gemeos designed the CD cover and stage decor.