
Roots
2009
Roots, produced in 2009, stands as an early and significant example of Vhils's practice brought into the realm of fine art editions. The work is executed in screenprint in colours with hand-applied bleach on wove paper, printed to the full sheet edges at 75 × 49.5 cm, and the interplay between the mechanical precision of the screenprint and the corrosive, unpredictable quality of the bleach is central to its meaning. That tension, between industrial process and raw material intervention, mirrors the street-based excavation technique for which Vhils became internationally recognised, whereby layers of urban surfaces are stripped away to reveal the human forms beneath. Here, the bleach does not merely add texture but actively participates in the image-making, ensuring that no two impressions within the edition are entirely alike. Published by Lazarides Gallery, London, and bearing their blindstamp, the edition was limited to just 30 prints, each signed by the artist in bleach and numbered in pencil. Lazarides Gallery was instrumental in bringing some of the most significant voices in post-street art to serious collector attention during this period, and this collaboration reflects the esteem in which Vhils was held from the outset of his fine art career. The use of bleach as the signing medium is itself a deliberate gesture, extending the work's conceptual logic into the very act of authentication and connecting the artist's hand directly to the corrosive material that defines the piece. For collectors, Roots represents a rare opportunity to acquire a work from the very beginning of Vhils's edition history, when his visual language was being translated from architectural surfaces to paper for the first time. The limited size of the edition, the hand-applied elements, and the Lazarides provenance combine to make this a highly collectible object, as much a document of a pivotal moment in contemporary urban art as it is a compelling work in its own right. The print is offered unframed, presenting an opportunity to display it according to individual preference.
- Medium
- Screenprint in colours with hand-applied bleach
- Sheet
- Signed
- Yes
- Location
- Forum Auctions, London, UK
- Spotted At
- Gallery · Forum AuctionsView on map
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