Hailed as one of the most innovative artists of his generation, Alexandre Farto aka Vhils began interacting with the urban environment through graffiti in the early 2000s. Today his poignant and poetic portraits are chiseled into urban landscapes around the world. 

The artist, who defines his work as an “archaeology of the present”, has developed a unique visual language based on an “aesthetic of vandalism”. Hammers, chisels, perforators and corrosive acids are his working tools. VHILS cuts, knocks, drills, engraves, scrapes, uses explosives to remove material from the successive layers that make up a wall or a surface (doors, concrete blocks, accretion of advertising posters, etc.). This “archaeology of the present”, which is embodied in portraits of men and women, most often anonymous, reveals a profoundly humanistic work.