Vhils
Reflex #1, 2023
Embossed glazed ceramic tiles
13 x 10 tiles
13 x 10 tiles
185 x 142 cm
72 7/8 x 55 7/8 in
72 7/8 x 55 7/8 in
Shiny squares the size of an open hand with blue and white scenes, flowers, and patterns are everywhere to be seen in Portugal. In the home country of Alexandre Farto aka Vhils, entire walls, interior of houses, churches, and public monuments are covered with tiles of all sorts and colors. They tell old stories, embellish the urban landscape, and extol religious figures. As much as they are small, they are resistant and have experienced uncountable urban transformations for over 500 years of Portuguese history. They are one of the most remarkable skins of Portuguese cities.Vhils’ practice is very much about appropriating himself on such surfaces. If the city is an organic, alive, and complex body that is in constant mutation, its skins are the urban landscape, where old and new, past and present, tradition and rebelliousness co-exist. In Portugal, centuries-old murals exist side-by-side with colorful tiled walls by contemporary artisans, as well as they share the same time and space of urban expressions like graffiti art, tagging, and billboards. Despite such ambivalences – or exactly because of them – cities are dynamic and brimming with shades of all colors.
The "Spectra" exhibition at Magda Danysz Gallery showcases tile pieces by Vhils for the first time. As is usual of his practice, Vhils digs into the local history of the cities, bringing its past to light. In his home country, tiles are symbols of heritage, culture, and memory. In this new body of work, Vhils not only incorporates this ancient tradition into his process, but he also reinterprets, re-signifies, and reframes it in a direct confrontation with this cultural identity - and the challenges we all face in the cities of the 21st century. The earliest use of the technique of firing clay at high temperatures was found in Egypt dating from about 4000 BC. With the primary purpose of protecting the interior walls of houses from damp and low temperatures, they soon began to be used to decorate monuments and buildings. In Portugal, the story of these luminous and geometric bricks is connected to its Arab past, since much of the country lived under Islamic rule for over 500 years from as early as 711, when the moors invaded the Iberian Peninsula. The so-called Azulejos come from the Arabic azzeli, which basically means “small polished stone”. It became a trend in Portuguese constructions, especially during the 15th century when Catholic Kings incorporated it as a symbol of status and wealth. It was a powerful and effective way of telling visual stories and defending moral values in a period when books were a privilege and only a small part of the population could read.
When it comes to global history, these thin squares with fresh designs are intrinsically connected to trade, globalization, and colonialism. In the 17th century, the maritime expansion of Portugal allowed the encounter with Chinese porcelain, the most advanced ceramics in the world. Its elegance fascinated Europeans, who began to produce tiles in the same blue and white tones. During that period, Azulejos were also taken by Portuguese colonizers to countries like Brazil. In cities such as Salvador, in Bahia, one can still perceive the way gridded murals were used as one more tool to impose the euro-centric culture in indigenous land. One form of expression, so many skins, so many layers to dig. The global flow of goods, people, commodities and economy back then was a starting process of modern globalization which has developed along the centuries until the international and technological integration we see today. In this body of work, Vhils creates connections between the worldwide spread of culture and interconnectedness between people in modern times and today.
Each piece of this exhibition spotlights anonymous people, a power mark of Vhils’ oeuvre. By dealing with ceramic and fire, the artist engraves their faces, eyes, and expressions, making it possible for those individuals who live in the margins of the city to be protagonists. These are modern-day heroes who very often don’t have the chance to tell their narratives. Those who deserve to have monuments dedicated to them are the ones who the majority of us don’t know their faces. Resuming the analogy of the city/body, individuals are each one of the cells that compose this complex system. Together, as a community, they create the DNA that shapes them. The present series is as near as the preliminary studies for the ambitious project of the Grand Paris Express, for which Vhils has been commissioned. For the upcoming public artwork in a metro station, the artist has created a large white and blue tile mural that will forge the shapes of Paris’ city line. Both make use of the laborious and fragile technique of high and low relief. A slight oversight and the pieces can be easily destroyed. If worked with knowledge and sensibility, however, they can last for another 500 years on the urban skins of the city.
By Julia Flamingo
