VHILS
Portuguese visual artist Alexandre Farto aka Vhils (b. 1987) began to interact with the urban environment through the practice of graffiti in the early 2000s and has been hailed as one of the most innovative artists of his generation. His poignant, poetic portraits chiselled into flaking walls can be seen adorning cityscapes around the world. Based on his aesthetics of vandalism, Vhils destroys as a means to create. He carves, cuts, drills, etches and blasts his way through the layers of materials. Yet, like an archaeologist, he removes in order to expose, bringing to light the beauty that lies trapped beneath the surface of things.
Since 2005, he has presented his work in over 30 countries around the world in solo and group exhibitions, site-specific art interventions, artistic events and projects in various contexts – from working with communities in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, to collaborations with reputed artistic and museological institutions such as the EDP Foundation (Lisbon), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Barbican Centre (London), CAFA Art Museum (Beijing), or the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (San Diego), among others. An avid experimentalist, Vhils has been developing his personal aesthetics in a plurality of media: from stencil painting t
o metal etching, from pyrotechnic explosions and video to sculptural installations. He has also directed several music videos, short films, and one stage production.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS 



2019
Realm - Shanghai, China
Panorama - New York, USA
Incisão - Brasília, Brasil

2018
Ethereal - Miami, USA
Décombres - Paris, France
Fragments Urbains - Paris, France
Annihilation - Los Angeles, USA
Intrínseco - Lisbon, Portugal

2017
Remains - Hong Kong
Imprint - Beijing, China
Debris | Destroços - Macau

2016
Retrocesso ao Futuro, Portugal
Debris - Hong Kong
Selected Prints 2006-2016 - Lisbon, Portugal

2015
Dissonance - London, UK

2014
Incisão - Recife, Brazil
Vestiges - Paris, France
Dissecção | Dissection - Lisbon, Portugal
Incisão - Curitiba, Brazil

2013
Fragmentos - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Dissolve - Sydney, Australia

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019

Up The Wall , KIRK Gallery, Denmark
Parti Pris, Danysz Gallery, Paris, France
. Conquête Urbaine – street art au musée, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Calais, Calais, France
. ADN – Art dans Nancy, Nancy, France
. Don't Believe the Hype, Artcurial, Paris, France
. E livres habitamos a substância do tempo, Praça da Liberdade, Almada, Portugal
. La Source, Fondation Carmignac, Île de Porquerolles, France
. NuArt Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
. ARCO Madrid 2016 – Feria Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo, Vera Cortês Art Agency booth, Madrid, Spain
. Post Contemporary – Urban Graphics 7019, MoCA – Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China

2018

All the Rage, Mandarin Oriental Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
. Vis a Vis, Danysz Gallery, Paris, France
. Festival Iminente London, The Old Truman Brewery, London, UK
. Arte em São Bento – Coleção António Cachola, Palácio de São Bento, Lisbon, Portugal
. Festival Iminente Lisboa, Panorâmico de Monsanto, Lisbon, Portugal
. One to One, 1:1 Gallery, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
. Imago – A History of Portraits, MUCA – Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art, Munich, Germany
. Annual Arts Exhibition Between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries – Alter Ego, The Macao Museum of Art, Macau SAR, China
. Do Tirar Polo Natural – inquérito ao retrato português, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Portugal
. Sea of Desire, Fondation Carmignac, Île de Porquerolles, France
. ARTEJO | EDP Foundation Public Art Programme, Atalaia, Portugal
. Splash and Burn project, Medan Indonesia
. Beyond the Streets, Los Angeles, USA
. The Armory Show, Vera Cortês Gallery booth, New York, USA
. Art From the Streets, ArtScience Museum, Singapore

2017

Fireworks, Magda Danysz Gallery, Shanghai, China
. A cidade na cidade - obras da colecção António Cachola, Centro de Artes e Cultura de Ponte de Sor, Ponte de Sor, Portugal
. APP Portfolio House Collection, Mission Hills Artworks, Shenzhen, Guandong, China
. Post no Bills: Public Walls as Studio and Source, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York, USA
. Art from the Streets | The History of Street Art – from New York to Beijing, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
. Portugal, Retrocesso ao Futuro (Vhils & ±MaisMenos±), Jardins Efémeros, Viseu, Portugal
. Abaixo as Fronteiras! Vivam o Design e as Artes, MUDE - Museu do Design e da Moda, Lisbon, Portugal
. Choices, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
. Knock on Wood, Magda Danysz Gallery, Paris, France
. Paradoxes of the Ivory Tower - Painting and pictorial elements in the Norlinda and José Lima Collection, Oliva Creative Factory, São João da Madeira, Portugal
. Point of View, Park of the Pena Palace, Sintra, Portugal
. They Would be Kings: An Exhibition Curated by Steve Lazarides, Sotheyby's Hong Kong Gallery, Hong Kong
. Art Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe Trade Fair Center, Galerie Springmann booth, Karlsruhe, Germany
. The Armory Show, Vera Cortês Art Agency booth, New York, USA
. ARCO Madrid 2016 – Feria Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo, Vera Cortês Art Agency booth, Madrid, Spain
. Still Here, a Decade of Lazarides, Lazarides Gallery, London, UK