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xavier prou
blek le rat (pronounced [blɛk lə ʁa]; born xavier prou, 1951) is a french graffiti artist. he was one of the first graffiti artists in paris, and has been described as the 'father of stencil graffiti'. blek began his artwork in 1981, painting stencils of rats on the walls of paris streets. he described 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 1…
The Subject Atlas
A chart of xavier prou's corpus mapped not by date but by subject. Spokes are what they painted; rings are when; and the threads between stars reveal the patrons and places that secretly connect them.
Spokes — Subject
Each arm of the atlas gathers works by what they depict: portraits, sacred scenes, mythologies, and the scientific studies. Click a spoke to swing that cluster to the top.
Rings — Career Period
Distance from the center marks time. The innermost ring is the earliest period; the outermost, the final years. Style matures as you move outward.
Threads — Shared Context
Coloured lines link works bound by the same patron, commission, or theme. Trace a context to watch related clusters light up across subjects.
