Beyond the Streets

At the moment more than one hundred of the most celebrated graffiti and street artists are showing works at BEYOND THE STREETS in Los Angeles' Venice Pavillion.

Site-specific installations, photography, sculptures and paintings are shown in- and outdoors as a tribute to Los Angeles.

The exhibition includes artworks of Faile, Shepard Fairey, Lady Aiko, Dan Witz, Banksy, Martha Cooper, Invader, Keith Haring, Jenny Holzer, Swoon and VHILS.

Art collector Roger Gastman( Art in the Streets) curated the show. Gastman is also known as co- founder of Fairey's Swindle magazine and co- producer of Banksy's documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. Other curators are Evan Pricco( editor of Juxtapoz magazine), David Villorente and author Caleb Neelon.

The must see installations include Faile's temple, a playful, interactive sacred structure, banners of the feminist collective Guerrilla Girls and a playable handball court with artwork by Lee Quiñones.

https://www.beyondthestreets.com

Vhils destructs to construct

Vhils copyright

Portugese artist Alexandre Farto(1987) grew up in an industrialised suburb, affected by the 1974 Carnation revolution. The destruction of the war influenced his work and way of thinking.

Vhils has been active in urban interventions since 2000. First trains around Europe were bombed, then stencils and pastes appeared.

In 2008 his carving pieces of the Scratching the Surface series were shown at the Cans Festival in London, on invitation by Banksy.  

The artist uses an innovative cutting technique to remove multiple layers of a wall or billboard posters to form a poetic artwork. The action of the method is the message: destruction and decay are used to create unpredictable artwork as he never knows what the underlying images will turn out to be. The history of urban space, revealed by the destruction of walls with explosives and drills , shows the textural contrast with contemporary public space.

Projected or painted photographs of unknown individuals are used as humanizing icons to criticize advertising ideals and the distressing urban environment. The carved layers symbolize the socio cultural influences and our individual struggle in society.

Vhils' work has been shown at the Sao Paulo Biennial, the Lazarides Gallery in London and Magda Danysz Gallery in Paris. He expresses himself with a variety of media: from stencil painting to wall carving, from collage to screen printing, from works on metal( the erode, apathy and ferrugem series), cork, styrofoam or wooden doors to video installations.

Still Vhils' fascination with dissection remains primordial.