Deconstructive Graffiti By Alexandre Farto

Everyone is familiar with Banksy’s foray into the Gaza Strip and we’ve written before about Paige Smith’s geodic street art: both are powerful examples of reclaiming a particular sliver of urban space and re-presenting it in a way that makes us refuse to believe our eyes. They’re truly an unreal experience.

Add the work of Alexandre Farto to the growing list. His ongoing project, entitled ‘Scratching the Surface’, takes a wall of a building and chips away at it until a portrait emerges. The locations vary, from the sides of beautiful buildings in Moscow to derelict buildings in London to abandoned interiors in Portugal. The result is the transformation of a bland surface in public space to an ornate piece of art, free for all to see.

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