In downtown Los Angeles, sometime between 2010 and 2011 — the wall's exact date is unresolved — Vhils and JR combined their languages on one surface, tied to JR's Eurotrash show at Lazarides (2010) and his LA 'Wrinkles of the City' campaign. JR's monumental wheat-pasted photograph and Vhils' subtractive carving share the wall, so the portrait reads at once as image and excavation; neither serves as backdrop for the other. Installed with the building owners' consent, the piece sets addition against removal, photography against sculpture — two opposed practices on one skin, each keeping its identity. It was an early sign of Scratching the Surface moving past the single carved wall.
Year2010PlaceLos Angeles, United StatesMediumWalls