Alexandre Farto aka Vhils is a Portuguese artist whose street work is impossible to overlook — and whose technique never fails to surprise. He started painting walls with spray cans in the early 2000s, but it was in 2008 that he caught the public’s attention at the Cans Festival in London with a highly unconventional approach. Stencil? Collage? Neither. Vhils carves the wall.
Typically, the artist begins by rolling white paint onto the wall surface. His canvas is then ready. Next comes the mason’s work. Using a chisel, jackhammer, and sometimes even explosives, Vhils digs into the wall’s white surface, creating a play of color between the remaining white areas and the exposed layers beneath. As the work progresses, portraits gradually emerge. His art sits at the border between painting and sculpture. The artist is constantly seeking new techniques to refine and evolve his practice.
Many of his street portraits depict anonymous faces — just like the passersby who encounter them — a way of reclaiming public space from the advertising campaigns that have invaded it.
Vhils and Levi’s: Berlin
Since 2011, the artist’s carved portraits have graced the walls of Berlin. Commissioned by Levi’s as part of the brand’s “GO FORTH” campaign, the project honored individuals whose work has had a lasting impact on the city’s social or cultural life through four carved portraits.
At Potsdamer Strasse 151, you could see the iconic face of Sven Marquardt, the legendary doorman of Berlin’s Berghain techno club and a recognized photographer. From the Schillingbrücke bridge, you had a magnificent view of the Spree, the Oberbaumbrücke, and the TV Tower while contemplating a portrait of Various from the Berlin art duo Various & Gould. On Chausseestrasse, there was Joe Hatchiban, known for organizing his famous open-air karaoke sessions on Sundays in the Mauerpark. The fourth subject was Fadi Saad, a social worker who helped many young people in difficulty.
Unfortunately, some of these walls have since been destroyed by new construction.
From the Street to the Gallery
For gallery work, Vhils uses wood, advertising panels, metal, 3D modeling, polystyrene sculpture, and even pyrography — as was the case with his project for the Swiss winemaker myFINBEC in 2014. The artist always finds a way to adapt to the gallery setting.