Alexandre Farto, aka VHILS, is renowned for his monumental relief portraits in locations across the globe. Since the early 2000s, the Portuguese artist has spearheaded countless projects spanning graffiti, street art, site-specific works, installations, and the creation of“destructive” printed materials such as bleach prints coated with acid.

The artist’s relationship with materials is both intuitive and profound. From using the natural decay of rusty metal doors to accentuate his portraits to arranging fluorescent lights in an abstract pattern to evince a human form, the artist champions a natural approach to developing his signature creations. “I never know [how the artwork] is going to end up. I have an image in my head, but when I carve the wall, I never know what I’m going to discover.”