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".
Initially influenced by the early graffiti art of New York City after a visit
in 1971, he chose a style which he felt better suited Paris, due to the
differing architecture of the two cities. He also stated the influence of New
York's Richard Hambilton, who painted large-scale human figures in the 1980s.
Blek is credited with being the inventor of the life-sized stencil, as well as
the first to transform stencil from basic lettering into pictoral art.
