Deconstructing history -- work of VHILS
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Born in 1987, Alexandre Farto, aka VHILS, is a Portuguese graffiti/street artist who is graduated from the University of the Arts London Central Saint Martins. He grew up in the new Portugal of the European Union, a country that still suffers from the deep scars of the agonizing years of the Estado Novo of Salazar regime.
Before 1974 Portugal was a highly traditional society. It resembled what historian Barbara Tuchman called the "Proud Tower" of pre-World War I European society. Class and social divisions were tightly drawn and defined, society was organized on a rigidly hierarchical and authoritarian basis, and social relations were often stiff and formal. One was born into a certain station in life and was expected to stay there and to accept that fact; social mobility was limited.
In 1928, confronted by economic chaos, Carmona handed control of the nation's finances to an economics professor from the university of Coimbra, António de Oliveira Salazar. Puritanical by nature, a man of simple and self-denying habits, Salazar was a strict authoritarian who rapidly brought the nation's finances under control and then applied the same strong medicine to the population at large. From 1932 he was prime minister with absolute power in all departments. In the following year he introduced a constitution as the basis for his Estado Novo (New State). Relying on a secret police, press censorship and a large army, his regime blended the coercive powers of a fascist state and of the Catholic church. In World War II he followed Spain in maintaining neutrality. Like other totalitarian rulers, Salazar was better at building railways, bridges and power stations than at educating the people or improving the economy at an everyday level. When he suffered a stroke in 1968, and was replaced as dictator by his colleague Marcelo Caetano, Portugal was the poorest and most backward nation in western Europe.
On the 25th April, 1974, one of the most peaceful revolutions ever documented took place in Portugal. Revolução dos Cravos began in the capital, Lisbon, and was staged as a means of overthrowing some 50 years of dictatorship. Like any other street artist,Farto's sensitivity is informed by this history. Creating stunning imagery from old, dusted, and dilapidated walls by chipping away at the surface, he continues to carve out his own medium in the streets.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 try to safeguard that history. 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.
Born in 1987, Alexandre Farto, aka VHILS, is a Portuguese graffiti/street artist who is graduated from the University of the Arts London Central Saint Martins. He grew up in the new Portugal of the European Union, a country that still suffers from the deep scars of the agonizing years of the Estado Novo of Salazar regime.
Before 1974 Portugal was a highly traditional society. It resembled what historian Barbara Tuchman called the "Proud Tower" of pre-World War I European society. Class and social divisions were tightly drawn and defined, society was organized on a rigidly hierarchical and authoritarian basis, and social relations were often stiff and formal. One was born into a certain station in life and was expected to stay there and to accept that fact; social mobility was limited.
In 1928, confronted by economic chaos, Carmona handed control of the nation's finances to an economics professor from the university of Coimbra, António de Oliveira Salazar. Puritanical by nature, a man of simple and self-denying habits, Salazar was a strict authoritarian who rapidly brought the nation's finances under control and then applied the same strong medicine to the population at large. From 1932 he was prime minister with absolute power in all departments. In the following year he introduced a constitution as the basis for his Estado Novo (New State). Relying on a secret police, press censorship and a large army, his regime blended the coercive powers of a fascist state and of the Catholic church. In World War II he followed Spain in maintaining neutrality. Like other totalitarian rulers, Salazar was better at building railways, bridges and power stations than at educating the people or improving the economy at an everyday level. When he suffered a stroke in 1968, and was replaced as dictator by his colleague Marcelo Caetano, Portugal was the poorest and most backward nation in western Europe.
On the 25th April, 1974, one of the most peaceful revolutions ever documented took place in Portugal. Revolução dos Cravos began in the capital, Lisbon, and was staged as a means of overthrowing some 50 years of dictatorship. Like any other street artist,Farto's sensitivity is informed by this history. Creating stunning imagery from old, dusted, and dilapidated walls by chipping away at the surface, he continues to carve out his own medium in the streets.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 try to safeguard that history. 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.
posted by Guity Novin @ 7:37 PM
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