Vhils
Sobreposição #18
2014
Hand-sculpted and laser-cut advertising posters collected in the street
124 × 186 cm
Unique
Location: France
About the artwork
Sobreposição #18 (2014) is a single large-format piece, 124 x 186 cm, made from advertising posters collected in the street, then hand-sculpted and laser-cut, in a process characteristic of Vhils' practice based on subtraction. The artist does not construct the image by addition, but reveals it by removing material, digging into the successive strata of paper accumulated in urban space, like a contemporary archaeologist working on the very skin of the city. The portrait gradually emerges through the lacerated layers, leaving visible the typographic fragments, colored solids, tears and scars of the original material, giving the work an almost sculptural depth despite the lightness of the support. The tension between the visual chaos of the superimposed posters and the serenity of the face creates a strong dynamic, where identity seems to emerge from an environment saturated with images and messages. By transforming an ephemeral material, destined to disappear, into a monumental and lasting work, Vhils questions collective memory, the construction of the individual in the contemporary city and the persistence of human traces in a landscape dominated by visual communication.
Expert opinion
This work belongs to one of the most important and sought-after series in Vhils' corpus, that of sculpted posters, which represents a decisive turning point in his career and in his international institutional recognition. The large-format works produced around 2013-2015 correspond to a period of major consolidation, marked by museum exhibitions and increased visibility on the contemporary scene. Sobreposição #18 stands out for the quality of its composition, the balance between visual complexity and legibility of the portrait, and the intensity of its physical presence. The combination of handwork and laser cutting reinforces the piece's technical sophistication and heritage value. On the market, the unique works in this series enjoy sustained demand, especially when they feature such an ambitious format and such accomplished execution. This is a solid piece, representative of Vhils' artistic maturity, suitable for a first-rate collection and with lasting potential in terms of both aesthetics and heritage.
About the artist
Alexandre Farto, alias Vhils, Portuguese artist born in 1987. Lives and works in Lisbon (Portugal). He became active in Lisbon's graffiti scene in the early 2000s. In 2008, Banksy invited him to take part in London's Cans Festival, where his work was immediately recognized and celebrated as one of the most innovative on the urban scene in recent years. Today, he exhibits at major institutions around the world, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing, and the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, which is devoting its first monographic exhibition to him in the United States in 2020. Until September 2022, the MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology) in Lisbon is dedicating a monumental, immersive exhibition to him, entirely focused on video. In it, the artist develops a new language, presenting an image of the city in slow motion.
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