In 1983 Blek began to paint life-size stencils, which alongside his rats, have become his trademark and have influenced generations of street artists around the world.īlek considers his images as gifts to the cities of the world, raising awareness of social issues. The rat, also an anagram for ‘art’, is in Blek’s mind “the only animal to survive the apocalypse“. Inspired by what he saw in New York, Blek began painting the streets of Paris in 1981, choosing a different technique – the stencil – as more appropriate for the French architecture.īlek’s first stencils were black rats, seen to be running along the walls throughout the centre of Paris. I began to spray some small rats in the streets of Paris because rats are the only wild living animals in cities and only rats will survive when the human race will have disappeared and died out.Born in 1951, Xavier Prou (better known as Blek Le Rat), was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and is the founder of the international stencil art movement.ĭuring a trip to the United States in 1971, Blek was introduced to the ‘wild style’ graffiti prevalent in New York City, which left a lasting impression on him. I wanted to have my own style in the street. I did not want to imitate the American graffiti that I had seen in NYC in 1971 during a journey I had done over there. “ During 1981 to 1983 at the beginning of the stencil graffiti art I had the idea to use stencil to make graffiti for one reason.

A massive influence on today’s graffiti and guerrilla art movements, Blek’s arresting images have a timeless, universal appeal that go beyond underground street art. Considered by many to be the originator of stencil graffiti, Blek has been adorning the streets of Paris with his hugely original and intelligent artwork since the early eighties.

The “Godfather” of Graffiti Art, Blek Le Rat (or Xavier Prou to his mother) was born in Paris in 1951. “ Every time I think I’ve painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well.

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