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Blek le rat, pseudonym of Xavier Prou (inspired by the comic book character Blek le roc), is a French stencil graffiti artist, initiator of urban art, born in 1951 in Paris. Blek le rat alias Xavier Prou began his studies at the School of Fine Arts in Paris in 1972. He attended the "Lucien Couteaud" engraving workshop and the "Dayez workshop" lithography workshop. He obtained the DSAP higher diploma in plastic arts in 1976. In 1977, he began studying architecture at the educational unit of architecture 6 "Paris La Villette". He is internationally recognized (see Banksy) as one of the pioneers of street art.
He started painting in 1981, first with a friend under the collective name of Blek, then alone. In 1992, he was sentenced to a heavy fine in the criminal court for "damage to property belonging to others". From then on, he no longer painted directly on the walls, but on posters which he then glued. From the 1980s, he was exhibited at the Loft gallery, rue des Beaux-Art in Paris and the "Jean Paul Christophe" gallery, Avenue Matignon in Paris, then at the Sanguine gallery. During the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, he never ceased to intervene on the walls of cities all over the world. In 1985, he participated in the first gathering of the graffiti and urban art movement in Bondy (Île-de-France), on the initiative of the VLPs, with Miss Tic, Futura 2000, Nuklé-Art, Speedy Graphito, SP 38, Banlieue-Banlieue, Jef Aérosol, Epsylon Point…
Between 1993 and 2001, he no longer exhibited in galleries until 2002 when he exhibited his work in a gallery in Berlin, the "Galerie Jurgen Grosse". His paintings generally represent anonymous or famous figures, in real size. He often draws his inspiration from everyday characters, from urban reality, whose image he then reproduces in the decor where 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 the rat has already done it just 23 years before! ".
