The Houston Bowery Wall will soon see the return of the mural by Brazilian artists Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, aka Os Gêmeos. The mural, which was originally created in 2009 and has remained hidden there since then, gets unveiled again on Tuesday, September 30, but will only be on view for a limited time.
The Os Gêmeos work was one of the first in a series of artist murals that have been exhibited in the mural space on Houston Street at Bowery, beginning in 2008 when property developer Tony Goldman—who was a pioneer of the revitalization of SoHo as well as Miami’s Wynwood Arts District—teamed up with art dealer Jeffrey Deitch to commission the recreation of a Keith Haring mural that had been there decades earlier.
In 2009, Goldman and his wife Janet decided to turn the wall into a permanent exhibition space for murals and commissioned Os Gêmeos to create one of their colorful and psychedelic paintings. The wall has been owned—along with the adjacent property 76 East Houston Street—by Goldman Properties since 2004. Since 2009 it has seen works by a plethora of high-profile street artists including Barry McGee, Swoon, Kenny Scharf, Shepard Fairey, Retna, and Maya Hayuk.
A commercial, two-story building offering nearly 3,000-square-feet of space, is reportedly on the way at 76 East Houston, the lot which used to house Billy’s Antiques. And though it seemed that the wall was potentially in trouble, it is apparently here to stay.
The Pandolfo twins had dedicated their mural to the memory of their friend, the late artist Dash Snow.