Getting Through the Walls

Blek le Rat (Xavier Prou), born in Paris in 1952, studied painting and architecture and was the first street artist to use the life-sized stencil. His main motivations are political and social consciousness and the desire to bring art to the people. His art is playful, political and often provocative. In fact, Blek le Rat is the archetypal enfant terrible, undermining the establishment with his risqué imagery.

He began his artwork in 1981, painting stencils of rats (‘the only free animal in the city’) on the street walls of Paris. This year he has had shows in London and New York and a major monograph Blek le Rat—Getting Through the Walls, published by Thames and Hudson, documenting his artistic career over the past twenty-five years.