Collaborative Work (2017)
American artist Shepard Fairey (Charleston, 1970) and Portuguese Vhils (Lisbon, 1987) are both world-renowned artists. A mural decorated by any of them would always be interesting, but what makes this work in Graça brilliant is the perfect combination of two such different styles. A case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Are you walking in the Graça neighborhood? Have you already seen the landscape from the Senhora do Monte viewpoint? So don’t miss this co-production, which is the best Lisbon has to offer its visitors at the moment.
From Rua da Graça, whether you arrived there by tuk-tuk or tram 28, just go down Rua do Sol to Graça and turn right onto Rua da Senhora da Glória.
This co-production represents a woman’s face. On the left side of the viewer you can see the painting by Shepard Fairey and on the right side the wall is carved in the style of Vhils.
The woman depicted has her mouth covered and her hair covered, but only in the painted part, while in the chopped part the face is more visible. This difference symbolically reflects the difference in techniques. Fairey, when painting, is adding something to the wall, which is the paint. On the other hand, Vhils in doing her work is removing material from the wall. If we think of the fabric of the scarves that cover the mouth and hair as the first layer of the drawing, Vhils, when doing his work, is exposing the woman’s face in a way that is not the case in the painted part.