The exhibition Make the invisible visible retraces both the sources of inspiration of renowned artist Vilhs and the meeting of minds between Maison Hennessy, its innate affinity for the artistic avant-garde illustrated by numerous collaborations with the most pionneering figures of street art, and the portuges artist.
After JonOne last year, I told you in this post, Vilhs unveiled his creative processus and the way he worked with Hennessy to make this artistic collaboration successfull.
As if we are in his art studio
More than “just” discover the works created by the artist for Hennessy and his collaboration for the design of Hennessy VS limited edition, the visitor has the opportunity to share in the genesis of their creation, and learn about the sources of inspiration for the works.
From Alexandre Fargo to Vilhs
Born in an industrial suburb of Lisbon, he began to express himself through graffiti on trains, walls and billboards… “My graffiti were very classic graffiti name tag as the rest of my crew was doing, we were also the only people who could understand what we were writing, Vilhs was just the 5 letters I could tag the fastest, and people started to call me with this name…”
But after a while, and as adolescents often stopped this experience, Vilhs got tired of communicating only to a small group, and wanted to touch a more important public. In the meantime, he started to see the walls, not just as walls, but as some places absorbing the different layers of urban history.
As he was studying in the famous Saint Martin’s School in London, he started to be recognized as an artist. In less than 15 years Vilhs’artworks are visible or on display worlwide.
The importance of the time
First time Vilhs came in Hennessy for the collaboration on VS limited edition, he quickly understood some similar process in creation, and especially the time perspective. “For me, it’s about the time it takes for the layers of the city to accumulate on the walls, it’s about working with things that take time to shape and you simply cannot speed up. Making cognac is very much the same as it takes a so long time to age eaux de vie with so many people involved over the years…”
Photo credit JMLUBRANO
Three stars, the famous “bras armé” coat of arms, checkerboard, vines branches, labels of the past, Vilhs has introduced iconic signs of Hennessy DNA.
The billboard
The stack of advertising posters is an assembly of Vilhs’ own urbans collections and a few drawn from Hennessy’s own archives. The incisions made with utility knives reveal traces of symbols and codes.
Photo credit JMLUBRANO
In this exhibition our eyes are drawn to the diorama : a work sculpted in polystyren foam. As theses huges portraits visible in many great cities around the world, theses faces seem to ask us, and call us to action in an urban and never ending moving society.
Definitively an exhibition you must see. Till end october, free entrance at “Les Visites Hennessy” in Cognac.
