Vhils

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Self-Portrait Vhils' (Lisbon 2011)
Exhibited works by Vhil (Diorama 2012)
Elevador da Bica car designed by Vhils (2010)
Vhils artwork at the Norfolk Hotel in Fremantle , Australia (Street Arts Festival, 2013)

Alexandre Farto (born January 1, 1987 in Lisbon ) is a street art artist from Portugal , who became known under his pseudonym Vhils .

Life

Vhils grew up in the industrial suburb of Seixal . He started spraying graffiti at the age of thirteen . In order to be able to reach a broader mass of the population with his art, he turned away from the methods of graffiti and dealt with street art. He began to cut patterns and motifs in billboards, here are countless layers of posters on top of each other, which each time result in a completely new, arbitrary pattern when processed by the artist. The forerunner of these works of art is the décollage from France.

Another technique he used was blowing up portraits into house walls. In doing so, Vhils chisels and mills the motifs out of the wall, attaches explosives to the open areas and then blows up the portrait again.

Since 2004, Vhils has been one of the main assets of the Lisbon Visual Street Performance series. He also worked in advertising agencies, for film animation and as a graphic designer and illustrator. In 2007 Vhils moved to London for some time to study at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design . Tristan Manco ( inter alia curator of Pictures on the wall ) was one of his most important sponsors. Vhils' contributions to the Banksy- curated Cans Festival in London in 2008 caused a sensation. Since then, Vhils has been considered one of the most famous European street artists.

reception

Growing up in the years after the Carnation Revolution , Vhils was shaped by post-revolutionary political murals and their progressive replacement by the world of the capitalist advertising industry. The increasing urbanization of the formerly rural surrounding area is also a clear influence in Vhils' work.

His art can be seen on the streets in different countries, but one could also see his works in numerous exhibitions around the world. a. in London or in the Lisbon Teatro Nacional D. Maria II . He has also been seen in Germany. At the invitation of the Cologne Cityleaks Festival 2015, he designed a wall in Venloer Straße (Cologne) . His works can also be seen in music videos , for example with the Portuguese soul / trip-hop band Orelha Negra .

On June 10, 2015, President Cavaco Silva Vhils awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of St. Jacob of the Sword .

literature

Web links

Commons : Vhils  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ How old is Vhils? , howold.co, accessed October 1, 2015
  2. ↑ a b Biography on the Vhils website , accessed on September 30, 2015
  3. ↑ Miguel Moore et al. a .: Underground. Vera Cortês Art Agency, Lisbon 2010, p. 153 ISBN 978-989-95700-1-6
  4. ↑ Miguel Moore et al. a .: Underground. Vera Cortês Art Agency, Lisbon 2010, p. 151 ISBN 978-989-95700-1-6
  5. ↑ Program information on Vhils ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from the Cityleaks Festival website, accessed September 30, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / cityleaks-festival.de
  6. ↑ List of medals on the website of the Portuguese Presidential Office , accessed on September 30, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Vhils
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Farto, Alexandre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese street artist
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1987
PLACE OF BIRTH Lisbon