Vhils (Portuguese, b. 1987) carves, drills and blasts through walls, metal and other urban materials to reveal portraits hidden beneath their surfaces. Born Alexandre Farto on the outskirts of Lisbon, Vhils rose to prominence in 2008 exhibiting alongside Banksy at London's “Cans Festival”, a show that made the front page of The Times.
Vhils grew up in Seixal, an industrial suburb of Lisbon, and started as a graffiti writer in the early 2000s before developing the carving technique that defines the practice. Vhils' project Scratching the Surface was first presented in Lisbon in 2007.Vhils splits time between Lisbon and London, and has collaborated with institutions including the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Barbican Centre in London, as well as communities in Cape Verde and the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
Over the past two decades Vhils has translated public wall pieces into gallery and museum works using concrete, brick and metal salvaged from the urban environment.Vhils' 2022 digital work Torned, released through “22 for 2022”, an Artsy and Verisart curated NFT auction, applies the same hand-carved and laser-cut technique to a composition of street advertising posters.
Presented by Eterno at the NFC Summit in Lisbon, Vhils' Explosion Works pairs Ignition and Rust Belt, two works built from controlled detonations that reveal portraits beneath blasted metal and industrial material.
