Against the backdrop of the Pyramids of Giza, Wells’s etched portrait is an everyday monument—a monumental
The poetic idea of ”doors as intimate architecture” forms the basis for a new installation by Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils. Set against the stunning desert backdrop of the Giza Pyramids, Gates of Cairo is a site-specific work featuring a layered collection of Wells’ unique etched portraits. Faces emerge from weathered buildings, some nested in the sand, while others stand high on scaffolding.
Contrasting ancient tombs with installations that dotted the landscape for just one month, Wells explores the ways in which we mark the world and how our imprints persist over time. “Pyramids were built for kings and gods and were intended to last forever. My installation is made of wood and memory and it will disappear quickly,” he said. “Yet both share the same human impulse to build, to remember, to leave traces.”
“Cairo’s Gate” is part of the fifth series forever is now The Egyptian Museum of Art is curating an exhibition with support from UNESCO. Wells, the first Portuguese artist invited to participate in the project, links his home country to this historic site. All 65 repurposed doors come from demolition sites and refurbishment projects between the two countries, and each door bears traces of previous use, whether it’s peeling paint, scuffed surfaces, or faint fingerprints lingering in worn places.
These fragmented portraits do not depict any particular person, but rather serve as stand-ins for people from the past and present. “A face can represent a person, but it can also represent a community, a generation or a shared emotional landscape,” said the artist. “It’s about how people and places are inseparable, how memories are embedded in matter, and how identities are built on many unseen levels.”
After six months of sculpting in his studio, Wells spent three days working on site, shaping and reshaping the composition. “It evolves intuitively door by door, guided by scale, texture and rhythm,” he shares. “This project is a dialogue between the everyday and the eternal, between the wooden doors of ordinary life and the stone pyramids that outlast civilization. It reminds us that even temporary things can withstand the weight of time.”
The “Gates of Cairo” exhibition is open until December 7. Learn more about the artist on Instagram.
