86 Creative

From News.com.au

A GRAFFITI artist has captured the world's attention by taking the act of vandalism "to the extreme" in his bid to transform mundane buildings into works of art.

Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto has earned the nickname “Andy Wall-hole” due to the incredible portraits he has chiselled onto buildings around Europe. Mr Farto, whose work has been featured in an exhibition alongside famous street artist Banksy's, says that he aims to create beautiful images out of destruction and chaos.

He hopes that his “faces in the city” project will inspire people to see beyond what meets their eyes.

The 23-year-old uses a variety of techniques to achieve this but says he never had control over his creations. “It’s never me who determines the final form of a piece,” Mr Farto said.

“I never have and never want to have absolute control over what I’m doing – I like the unexpected and the uncertain.”

He uses various techniques to create his works such as explosives, drills, household bleach, spray paint and stencils. “The idea is to take the act of vandalism – the act of destroying in order to create – to the extreme, as modus operandi.

"To use processes which, on the surface, are not valued in a more conservative work environment – tools such as etching acid and household bleach, spray paint and Quink – to take these undervalued materials and create some sort of confrontation through stencil, graffiti and visual arts techniques.”

Mr Farto said that his interest in graffiti began back in the late 1990s while growing up in the outskirts of Lisbon. The walls of buildings in his area had been taken over by murals and paintings during the 1974 Revolution.

Mr Farto became popular when his work of a face carved into a wall appeared beside a picture by famous street artist Banksy at the Cans Festival in London, 2008.

Since then he has been given space to show his work by Banksy’s agent Steve Lazarides.
He has been involved in a number of exhibitions including the Fame Festival in Italy.

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