TIME TRAVEL VIA LAYERED CITIES: VHILS
VHILS
History is made up of layers, as stories pile up over time. In cities, there are many layers, as populations are dense and ever evolving. What we mainly see today are the top, most recent surfaces. Decay reveals multi-layered remnants of past life.
Artist Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils, digs into a city’s layers to create mural masterpieces, transforming urban landscapes into open-air art galleries. Instead of painting with colors, Vhils “paints” with layers marking the passage of time, carving through history. He cuts through and peels back layer by layer. He turns everyday eyesores of urban decay, turning peeling billboards and crumbling walls, into things of beauty.
Born and raised in Lisbon, Farto began as a graffiti artist. He adopted his tag-name, Vhils, because it was comprised of his favorite letters to spray. He was a Banksy protege. Now, his giant mural portraits seem to share a similar sensibility to JR’s iconic works.
Now, he is more sculptor than painter. He scrapes and carves through layers of paper billboards, paint, stucco, and brick, to create giant portraits, using drills, jackhammers, chisels, and blades.
Up close, the work appears rough, random and chaotic. As he works,Vhils moves back and forth, working up close and standing back at a distance to gain perspective, to check on his proportions and overall compositions until, from a distance, portraits emerge.
Vhils celebrates everyday local heroes in each city. He began, in Lisbon.
Mural by Vhils. Portrait at The Mills. Lisbon, Portugal.
In 1974, after Portugal’s Carnation Revolution brought down the right-wing dictatorship which had perilously gripped the country for 48 years, the Portuguese people touted their newfound freedom with bold political murals. They faded over time and new advertising billboards were pasted on top of them, building layer upon layer. Graffiti added yet more layers to the mix.
Mural by Vhils. Lisbon, Portugal.
By the time Vhils came onto the scene in the mid eighties, the walls were “fat” with layers. He wanted to use all of the layers to reflect the changing times, so he started to carve into them, uncovering billboards over the past decades.
Vhils tribute to 1960s factory workers in a former industrial suburb of Lisbon, Portugal, is enormous, stretching across several blocks.
By Vhils & Shepard Fairey. Rua da Senhora da Glória, Graça. Lisbon, Portugal.
Vhils collaborated with American street artist Shepard Fairey, best known for his iconic image of Barack Obama, to create the massive “American Dreamers” mural on the side of a film studio in Los Angeles.
Mural by Vhils. “Debris.” Hong Kong.
Vhils has transformed cityscapes around the world, from L.A. to New York, Moscow to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, Vhils emphasized the cultural transformations as the city has repeatedly reinvented itself. "Debris" explores the notions of identity in contemporary urban societies.
Working both as artist and archeologist, his carving, exposes layers over 100 years old. His work also appears in galleries, with similar urban themes.
Mural by Vhils. New Wall carving. Poland.
Constantly experimenting with materials, tools and techniques, Vhils’ work continues to evolve. More recently, he has used explosives to remove layers. You can watch it in action in the U2 music video, “Raised by Wolves,” directed by João Cardoso.
Mural by Vhils. Monterrey, Mexico.
Check out Vhils’ website to see all of the cities that are home to his artworks. They are remarkable to behold IRL, adding beauty and character to each place. The murals are not permanent, as weather and entropy cause the layers to fade and further decay. As they change, the destruction reveals new layers beneath. Vhils’ works are photographed so that the photos themselves become permanent artworks.
You can see them on display in Portugal: Galeria Vera Cortês UK: Lazarides Gallery France: Galerie Magda Danysz | Paris China: Magda Danysz Gallery | Shanghai Hong Kong & USA: Over the Influence Gallery Germany: Galerie Henrik Springmann Italy: Studiocromie.
See more beautiful street art here.
Read more about Beautiful Layers all this week on BeautifulNow. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.
Mural by Vhils. Gould, from ”Various & Gould.” Berlin, Germany.
Want more stories like this? Sign up for our weekly BN Newsletter, Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. Join our BeautifulNow Community and connect with the most beautiful things happening in the world right now!
Do you have amazing photos? Enter them in this week’s BN Photo Competition.
