Meet Vhils
As you know from yesterday’s article, Vhils is the tag name of Portuguese street artist Alexandre Farto. He started doing graffiti in the early 2000s and soon after started experimenting with different techniques.
Vhils allegedly gained prominence when his work of a face carved into a wall appeared alongside a picture by street artist Banksy at the Cans Festival in London in 2008. A photograph of him creating the work appeared on the front page of The Times.
Vhils creates his unique wall art by dissecting poster ads and carving into or excavating walls with tools such as etching acid, bleach, pneumatic drills and other processes, to reveal their layers.
~ By Vhils ~ Nuit Blanche, Paris, France – Photo: alexandrefarto.com
Alexandre explains what inspires him: “I try focusing on the act of destruction to create; this is something I have brought over from graffiti. I believe we are all composed by layer upon layer of social and historical fabric. Our social system is the product of this same process of layers, and I believe that by removing and exposing some of these layers—in fact, by destroying them—we might be able to reach something purer, something of what we used to be and have forgotten all about. It’s all very symbolical so take it as a semi-archaeological dissecting of layers of history and culture.”
– Alexandre Farto/Vhils for Wynwood Walls
~ By Vhils ~ Sydney, Australia – Photo: alexandrefarto.com
~ By Vhils ~ Festival Avant Garde Urbano, Tudela de Navarra, Spain – Photo: alexandrefarto.com
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These are technically excellent, and an interesting technique for creating depth in the images.
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The scale of this art is spectacular. Truly show how limitless art is.
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Thanks for your comment, I am glad you enjoy it!
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I ditched the blogosphere completely since last October 2015. Tonight’s my return for a bit. So here I am. I see this post on your site – of this actual scratching into the surface to leave dig marks as images and I’m like – damn. Walls are liberated spaces. I continue to admire your posts and congratulations for maintaining your efforts. You’re in it for the long haul. I’m going to work on walls. I’ll share my efforts. – JM
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Thanks for your kind words, Joe. I am very glad that you decided to continue blogging and I hope that you will find inspiration from artists in my posts. I am looking forward to your new articles! Good luck and have a great day! 🙂
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awesome work, great artistry, a very talented guy, I really like the mention of BANKSY in his timeline. He is deserving of good recommmendations
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Thank you for your comment! 🙂 I like his work as well and I agree that Banksy has inspired many, he is a great street artist.
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