If These Walls Could Talk: Lifelike Portraits Carved into Old Buildings

When it comes to creating fine art and new architecture, it appears we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. Alexandre Farto, better known as Vhils, is a Portuguese-based street artist who often transforms old wall surfaces into lifelike portraits. Vhils creates these sculptures of faces by carving and chipping away on buildings. The underlying structure of each building plus the wear and tear of weather elements over time make each face, that appears out of negative space, unique in its color and texture.

The project here was displayed at the Walk & Talk public art festival, which is an annual event for international artists to fill the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese Azores, with contemporary artwork.

The three site installation of portraits stare out at the crowds of São Miguel that pass by, which the event coordinators explain to be “carved into bare walls that explode (literally) and recreate and renovate derelict spaces.”

Do you think these buildings have become more humanized? What kind of stories do you think they could tell?
 
via My Modern Metropolis