Vhils

Vhils is the artist name of Alexandre Farto (born in 1987), a Portuguese visual artist who emerged from the graffiti scene of the Lisbon suburbs. After his teenage beginnings in street art, he trained in fine art in London (Central Saint Martins) and rose to international prominence in the late 2000s, notably with projects presented at major street art events.

His signature is a method that works ‘in reverse’: instead of adding paint, he removes material (render, layers of wall, posters) to bring portraits out in relief — an approach often associated with his series Scratching the Surface. He works with a chisel, a drill or a jackhammer, and also explores other mediums and techniques.

Beyond the spectacular effect, his work questions identity, the memory of places, urbanisation and time: he ‘reveals’ the strata of the city as so many anonymous stories and faces inscribed in the very fabric of the material.