Xavier Prou aka. Blek Le Rat is known as the originator of  modern stencil graffiti art. The French artist began spraying the image of rats on walls back in 1981. The rat is “the only free animal in the city.” It’s impact on its environment is great as rats “spread the plague everywhere, just like street art.”

Blek Le Rat‘s stencils distill the essence of the human struggle into poetically concise images. Blek shows clarity in his work, he makes every stylized mark count, yielding art that is at once personal and universal, economical in gesture, and bountiful in statement.
—Shepard Fairey

Blek believes that graffiti and urban art are the most important artistic movement of all time. “Nowadays, there is not one city in the world that does not have graffiti on its walls. In the past, we’ve never seen a movement with so many people involved. Not even in pop-art, which already carries an important role [in the art world.] Art should be preserved for future generations, and galleries have a responsibility regarding urban art,” because this movement is part of History.

(Translated  from French Article: here)

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Over three decades ago, Blek le Rat was a young French artist painting his portrait around Paris in pursuit of fame. He now stands unchallenged as the grandfather of stencil art, a medium pioneered by Blek and carried on by all subsequent generations. Stencil graffiti is used to increase speed, a necessity for graffiti artists who risk arrest for the sake of their art.

Information courtesy of Blek le Rat’s website.

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International street artists are currently conquering the art market, with auction houses, collectors, and galleries demanding top prices for their work. This book and DVD package features interviews with key artists including Banksy, Futura, Ramm:ell:zee, Os Gemeos, Invader, Barnstormers, WK Interact, Zevs, Blek le Rat, André, Noki, and Eine. Graffiti-inspired street art pioneers Futura, Ramm:ell:zee, and Blek le Rat discuss their own work, how street art was born out of the days of subway train graffiti, spraypainting and tagging, and how the new movement of street artists are doing things differently.

Filmed in New York, London, Paris, São Paulo, and Tokyo, the accompanying documentary shows the artists at work: Zevs practicing his “Visual Kidnappings” of advertising billboards, Blek le Rat sticking up outsized stencils, Os Gemeos painting their lyrical, folklore-inspired murals; and Invader putting up his unique mosaic wall tile images.

Goetz Werner is a TV director and print journalist, and a regular contributor to Lodown magazine. Sebastian Peiter is Managing Director of UK based TV company Urban Canyons Ltd, and Series Producer of the URBANATION TV series.

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