For this week’s Street Art Update, Vhils is our guy, using a wide range of materials and creating some really beautiful portraits. Vhils is a great artist and lucky for us a lot of his work is up on the walls of the world from Portugal to Moscow and China to New York City!

Words by Mia Kingsley 

Vhils uses a range of age groups for his portraits but I really like his older subjects, I think the texture of their skin allows Vhils to work deeper and get more into the material creating great expressions through his technique.

However this girl is super cute!

Vhils use of eyes is also a strong factor to his portraits, a lot of the emotion is caught in his characters’ eyes.

Another trait I like about a lot in Vhils work is his use of the material. Textures are a big element to his pieces whether its layering of ripped paper off of billboards or in the the case of the work above the rubble from the wall.

Here is another example of his layering and use of different mediums, it’s a really great touch to have the hands and face in contrasting materials and also adds depth to the portrait.

This piece has been made with metal, for other projects even wood is used. Check out his website and decide for yourself which portrait and material you prefer….