Detritus Add Ons by VHILS

Vhils aka Alexandre Farto (b. 1987) has been interacting visually with the urban environment under the name of Vhils since his days as a prolific graffiti writer in the early 2000s. Vhils has presented his work in over 40 countries in solo and group exhibitions, site-specific art interventions and projects in various contexts – from working with communities in Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro and Shanghai to collabs with Art institutions such as the Centre Pompidou (Paris), Barbican Centre (London), CAFA Art Museum (Beijing), MAAT (Lisbon), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Le Centquatre-Paris, (Paris), Victoria & Albert Museum (London), among others. An avid experimentalist, Vhils has been developing his personal aesthetics in a plurality of media besides his signature carving technique: from stencil painting to metal etching, from pyrotechnic explosions and video to sculptural installations. He has also directed several music videos, short films, and two stage productions. Vhils grew up in Seixal, an industrialised suburb across the river from Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, and was deeply influenced by the transformations brought on by the intensive urban development the country underwent in the 1980s and 1990s. He was particularly inspired by the way city walls absorb the social and historical changes that take place around them.