Fully focused on the Vhils‘ works created during his stays in Beijing and Shanghai, the Realm show aims at being representative of the lives and the people of these cities.

The works seek to reflect something of the essence of these cities in the deepest way.

Despite the repetition and uniformity of the material used (basic plaster boards that can be found on construction sites all around the world), Vhils manages to give each of his bas-relief carved portraits either contemplative, or mysterious , a life and strength of their own.

By bringing them together in the same space, he suggests that each feeds on the other and their environment to eventually compose a community together.

World-renowned artist Alexandre Farto, a.k.a. Vhils is back in China, a country he finds inspiring. The Portuguese visual artist hits Shanghai again for a much-awaited new solo show at Danysz gallery, starting on March 23rd, 2019.

Vhils is renowned around the world for his unique carved portraits, using the walls of the cities as his sculptural material. Following the seminal work of Gordon Matta-Clark, Vhils carves the walls to reveal memories of the past lives they once witnessed.

Carving out the facades of old buildings, he creates impressively delicate portraits of the inhabitants, focusing on the human soul and attracting our attention to the men and women who make up our urban communities,
questioning the link between them and these ever-expanding cities, often synonymous with dehumanisation.

The exhibition will open on March 23rd at the Magda Danysz Gallery in Shanghai.