Santurce es Ley, a recurring urban art festival, invited artists to work directly on the changing fabric of San Juan's Santurce district. In 2013, Vhils extended Scratching the Surface into Puerto Rico with a carved intervention that stood out among the mostly painted murals around it, installed near the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico at 299 Avenida de Diego. The subtractive process let the wall's own accumulated layers become the portrait, within an urban landscape that each festival edition continued to transform. Whether or not the wall survives today, the work marks Vhils' early engagement with the Caribbean and with cities where social and cultural change is inscribed directly into the built environment.
Year2013PlaceSan Juan, Puerto RicoMediumWalls