Arts | Vhils returns to Macau with new exhibition

An art exhibition “Debris – Works by Alexandre Farto aka Vhils” will be inaugurated at the Navy Yard No.1- Contemporary Art Center on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

The exhibition – organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) as part of the 28^th Macao Arts Festival – features more than 20 works, including four new murals inspired by Macau in the public space.

Vhils has become internationally recognized for developing a unique visual poetry that exemplifies the interdependent relationship between contemporary life and its urban context.

The exhibition will further present forgotten urban collective memories and history from the artist’s perspective, revealing the specific moments of the globalization process, and the artist’s personal experience, identity and attention.

His carving technique, based on removing the surface layers of walls and other materials with unconventional tools, has been hailed as one of the most compelling approaches to art created in the urban art scene, according to a statement issued by the IC.

At the end of 2016, the Consulate General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong and Casa de Portugal em Macau invited Vhils to create a mural of celebrated Portuguese poet Camilo Pessanha.

The exhibition features works by the artist using local elements, including new billboards made from Macau street posters and carvings on old doors collected in the region, as well as a slow-motion video capturing the territory’s streets.

The full exhibition includes public murals distributed throughout the city, including two works at the Macao Portuguese School.

Among other locations, the additional murals may be viewed on external walls at Rua dos Clérigos in Old Taipa Village and No. 1, Rua Direita Carlos Eugénio, in Taipa. The exhibition will be open from June 1 to November 5.