Concrete, steel, brick and stone have long been the substrates that paint our architectural canvas but they have also been the substrates that allow graffiti artists to paint our surroundings. Both substrates, the architectural and the painted, articulate the dichotomy of destruction and construction. These architectural materials became the canvases of political murals in Portugal during the 70’s and 80’s. After the Carnation Revolution on April 25, 1974, the streets of Portugal began portraying an overlay of political mural decay and contemporary advertising billboards.A graduate from the University of the Arts London Central Saint Martins, Alexandre Farto is fully aware of the influence that his city’s history has had on his artistic pursuits. He felt compelled to communicate the essence and transition his streets have lived through and communicate these elements through his own work. Born in 1987, Portuguese graffiti/street artist, Alexandre Farto, aka VHILS, grew up in the new Portugal, decades after it joined the European Union. The contrast between revolutionary murals and the new mass advertising era brought conflict and inspiration to his creative vision. Like any other street artist, amalgamating an audience and staging his work in new ways became the focus of Farto’s work. Focusing in on the process of destruction to create something more interesting is only feasible by manipulating what currently exists. Using construction tools, he exposes and confronts the architectural surfaces as they narrate the story of the graphic and of the city itself. Etching acid and bleach, he begins to depict the canvas to be de-constructed. Then with the use of hammers, chisels and pneumatic drills, VHILS sculpts the stenciled pieces to create texture, dimension and layers.
