What Hides Underneath – Vermibus and the Beauty Revealed

Vermibus and OPEN WALLS Gallery are definitely a match made in heaven: same attitude, same aesthetics, same love for the artistic movement known as adbusting. Now, the mysterious Spanish artist got to have an entire exhibition dedicated solely to his works for the first time at the Berlin space, which opened with a bang just a few days ago. Of course, the show was just another excuse to celebrate the seminal Unveiling Beauty series that Vermibus cunningly executed around the world. No, they’re not zombies, they’re supermodels – in a little different light than the one we’re all used to.

Unveiling Beauty

The first collaboration between Vermibus and OPEN WALLS Gallery happened back in 2012, and ever since then, the artist has been growing, evolving and creating art that was exponentially growing more tongue-in-cheek with every new event… or better yet, every new fashion week show. If you know Vermibus, you know Unveiling Beauty, his most successful project to date which took him to the four fashion capitals in Europe and the United States and had him re-work the advertising posters from lightboxes all over these cities. The supermodels and familiar faces we know all too well become new definitions of beauty, stripped of their brand, airbrushed perfections and conventional sex appeal. Because of the illegality of these actions, Vermibus’s artworks don’t stay up for long, but they do catch attention and send a strong message.

The Importance of Awareness

”In the activist part, what I want is to create awareness about public space advertising. By opening those spaces, I make them vulnerable and I create a conversation not only with the brands or the companies that put advertising in the public space but also with the citizen, breaking the unidirectional message.” This is how Vermibus explained his intentions in the latest interview for OPEN WALLS Gallery. The artist aims to not only show the vulnerability of the people behind these advertising campaigns but also his own fragility as well, through the means of mass communication – which, for Vermibus, holds great power over our consciousness and decision making. But taking away this power, we regain our independence from it and we start seeing things clearly again.

Vermibus Opening at OPEN WALLS Gallery

Staying open until June 25, 2016, Vermibus’s exhibition at OPEN WALLS Gallery put on view more than 30 of the artist’s most recognizable artworks, in both small and large scale. Like all artistic portraits, they convey a haunting quality of the gaze, soaked in solvent in order to be emphasized even more. These artworks are here to stay, however, unlike those on the streets, so we can enjoy their originality and distinct approach, equality powerful even though in a different setting.

Selected Vermibus Artworks