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Blek the rat

Blek le Rat (pseudonym of Xavier Prou, who was inspired by the comic strip character Blek le roc) was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the "father of stencil".

Xavier Prou ​​began studying at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1972 and obtained his DSAP advanced diploma in plastic arts in 1976.

He is internationally recognized (Banksy is one of his admirers who recognizes his influence) as one of the pioneers of street art.

He began painting in 1981, first with a friend under the collective name Blek, then on his own. In 1992, he was sentenced to a heavy fine by the criminal court for "damage to property belonging to others".

From then on, he no longer painted directly on the walls, but on posters that he then stuck up. From the 1980s, he exhibited at the Loft gallery, rue des Beaux-Art in Paris1 and the “Jean Paul Christophe” gallery, Avenue Matignon in Paris, then at the Sanguine gallery.

During the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, he continued to work on the walls of cities around the world. Between 1993 and 2001, he no longer exhibited in galleries until 2002 when he exhibited his work in a Berlin gallery, the "Galerie Jurgen Grosse".

His paintings generally represent anonymous figures or celebrities, life-size. He often draws his inspiration from everyday characters, from urban reality, whose image he then reproduces in the decor in which he evolves.

Today his work influences thousands of urban artists around the world and it is not surprising to find artists in London, New York or Tokyo who claim to belong to his school. Among them, the English artist Banksy: "Every time I paint something, I discover that Blek le rat has already done it just 20 years before!"

Blek le rat

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