OS Gemeos: Brazilian Street Artists’ Mural was a highlight of Summer’s Crop on the Streets of New York

The consensus is that the summer in the City goes by way too fast. This year is not an exception. But the harvest has been good.

The green markets that dot NYC’s 5 boroughs boast some great fresh produce that isn’t sprayed with pesticides or that will give your children 3 eyes. From Bay Ridge to Borough Park to Bowling Green to Bronx Borough Hall to Sunnyside and St. Georges, the tomatoes were the superstars this September – big and meaty and fragrant.

And the bold brassy sunflowers have been clamoring into our little apartments and putting a smile on our worried faces.

The summer crop of Street Art of course has been bounteous! The creative output from the indomitable, wild, and restless street artists – home-grown and imported – seems record-breaking. From commissioned public murals with photo-ops for politicians to the secret stick-up kids on newspaper boxes, the voices of people on the streets grew.

The mural by Os Gemeos (photo by Jaime Rojo)

One truck-load of fresh produce that won a NYC Street Art blue-ribbon this summer was the giant colorful pop-surrealist mural by the hard-working and gentle twins from São Paulo, Os Gemeos.

Gustavo of Os Gemeos (photo Jaime Rojo)

During a brief 2-week growing period, Gustavo and Octavio labored in the fields of dreams and eye-popping colors while the curious and the hungry stood by on the sidewalk in clusters of cameras and black books, day after day watching the fantasy open up and reveling in the sunshine.

The ladder meets the scissor lift (Os Gemeos) (photo Jaime Rojo)

With cans of aerosol and buckets of latex, they worked the fertile soil of Deitch Projects orchards on the corner of Houston and Bowery under an intense heat and punishing sun.

Detail from Os Gemeos mural (photo Jaime Rojo)

In a location that had been painted in previous summers by other migrant street artists including Haring and Scharf, the Brazilians delighted the weary New Yorkers and curious tourists with their vivid imaginations.

Octavio and Gustavo; Os Gemeos (photo Jaime Rojo)

To say goodbye to the summer of 2009 we pay homage to their industry and talent once more. Long after the summer sun fades and the grey cold winter takes us over, this bright gift from Os Gemeos will remain on Houston Street.