VHILS

Alexandre Farto, also known as Vhils, is a Portuguese street artist from Lisbon, born in 1987. Known worldwide for his unique works, Vhils leaves his mark on the walls of urban wastelands by engraving the material. Through a play of "light and shadow", and by means of often very surprising techniques (jackhammer, chisel, stonemason's hammer, explosives, acid, etc.), Vhils "breaks through" the walls to usually reveal gigantic faces, sometimes those of neighborhood residents, whose trait quality suggests perfect technical mastery and immense artistic talent. His works have the strength of a B&W photograph where contrast and light intensify the depth of wrinkles, the hairy detail of a beard, the intensity of a gaze, the weight of time. By digging into the walls of impoverished neighborhoods and buildings threatened with demolition, his preferred areas, Vhils enjoys discovering the different strata, the inner layers that no one sees. He considers his work a form of "contemporary archaeology". His reverse graffiti technique never allows him to know the final result before starting his work. It is this magic of discovery that drives him. Vhils gained international recognition in 2008, at the Cans Festival in London, when one of his works was exhibited alongside that of Banksy, the world street art star, whom he was the guest of. The photo of the two works made the front page of The Times newspaper.