Blek Le Rat

Paris , France

Blek le Rat, born Xavier Prou, is a French street artist from Paris widely recognised as a pioneer of stencil art. He began placing stencilled rats across the streets of Paris in 1981, using the animal as a symbol of freedom, survival and the spread of urban art. His artist name combines the comic-book character Blek le Roc with “rat”, an anagram of “art”. Through life-sized figures, social commentary and repeated interventions in public space, Blek helped establish stencil graffiti as a major European street-art language. His influence extends across generations, most notably to Banksy, who has openly acknowledged his importance.

"Every time I think I've painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well, only twenty years earlier." Banksy