Street artist Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils, doesn’t simply paint or graffiti over stencils. The Portuguese artist breaks away at the side of buildings using a combination of chisels, jackhammers, acid, and explosives to produce his large-scale wall murals across the world’s urban landscapes. Vhils reveals layers of a building through the destruction of its walls, exposing brick, wood panels, weathered overlaid posters, and varied coats of paint. By doing so, he reconfigures city structures to not only display portraits of its people but to lay bare the history of the building.
Currently in Shanghai, the artist has chipped away to reveal three faces so far this year. With the opening of his gallery show coming up at Gallery 18 on March 31, 2012, Vhils continues to construct new street creations leading up to the big day.
