MINI challenged Portuguese artist Alexandro Farto, whose artistic name is Vhils, to prove his artistic abilities on a classic of the car manufacturer. TRACERY was the name he gave it, after giving the first-generation vehicle a new look.
Vhils gave his artistic style to a car he called TRACERY, the term referring to ornamental stone openwork in Gothic architecture. To create the art installation, Alexandre travelled to Oxford to visit the MINI factory, where he was able to choose the model that would serve as his canvas. He ended up choosing the Mini Mk1 from 1965, characterised by a simplicity that was considered revolutionary for the time. The work took six months to complete, and in the process, 30,000 holes had to be drilled in the car’s panels to achieve the desired result. "With this work, I not only pay tribute to the visionary mind of Sir Alec Issigonis, creator of the original Mini, but also celebrate the revolutionary spirit of the creation itself. With its pioneering design and democratising impact, MINI embodied a symbol of accessibility and urban mobility,” explains the artist. Vhils’ inimitable style has been reproduced as a dialogue between the past and the present, lifting the vehicle to the status of a work of art.
Vhils gave his artistic style to a car he called TRACERY, the term referring to ornamental stone openwork in Gothic architecture. To create the art installation, Alexandre travelled to Oxford to visit the MINI factory, where he was able to choose the model that would serve as his canvas. He ended up choosing the Mini Mk1 from 1965, characterised by a simplicity that was considered revolutionary for the time. The work took six months to complete, and in the process, 30,000 holes had to be drilled in the car’s panels to achieve the desired result. "With this work, I not only pay tribute to the visionary mind of Sir Alec Issigonis, creator of the original Mini, but also celebrate the revolutionary spirit of the creation itself. With its pioneering design and democratising impact, MINI embodied a symbol of accessibility and urban mobility,” explains the artist. Vhils’ inimitable style has been reproduced as a dialogue between the past and the present, lifting the vehicle to the status of a work of art.
