A major new recognition marks the trajectory of our artist Vhils. The Portuguese artist, whose real name is Alexandre Farto, has been chosen to create the official portrait of the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The work will join the Gallery of Presidential Portraits at the Museu da Presidência da República in Lisbon.
This commission represents an important moment in the history of this institutional collection. For more than a century, the official portraits of Portuguese presidents have been entrusted to leading artists of their time. The inclusion of Vhils in this gallery reflects the growing recognition of urban art and its ability to engage in dialogue with major cultural institutions.
Internationally known for his portraits carved directly into the walls of cities, Vhils has developed for more than fifteen years a distinctive artistic practice that reveals faces by removing material rather than adding it. Using chisels, jackhammers, acids and sometimes even controlled explosions, the artist exposes the different layers of urban surfaces, allowing human figures to emerge that seem to carry the memory of the places and the people who inhabit them.
By creating the official portrait of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Vhils continues this reflection on identity and collective memory within an unprecedented context. The gesture of the artist, rooted in graffiti culture and public space, enters here into a prestigious institutional tradition and creates a rare dialogue between contemporary urban art and political heritage.
This commission illustrates the evolving perception of practices originating from street art, which are now widely recognized as an essential component of contemporary creation. For Vhils, whose monumental works can be seen in cities around the world, this new milestone confirms the unique place he holds today on the international art scene.
March 9, 2026
