Blek Le Rat
Culture: So What?!?
Cultural Weekly empowers creativity only because it is empowered by you. This essay was originally published in 2014. It is one of 100 reasons... Read more →
Blek le Rat, born Xavier Prou in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris in 1951, was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and the originator of stencil graffiti art. He began his artwork in 1981, painting stencils of rats on the street walls of Paris, describing the rat as "the only free animal in the city", and one which "spreads the plague everywhere, just like street art". His name originates from a childhood cartoon "Blek le Roc", using "rat" as an anagram for "art".
By Blek Le Rat on
Follow Us