Blek was first exposed to graffiti in 1971, in New York, but didn't start making his own until ten years later, in Paris. A pioneer of street artists in Europe, he was the first to use large stencils for creating icons on the streets instead of writing his name. Blek le Rat is central to the greater story of how urban visual vernacular evolved from a primal scrawl to a fine art.” - Carlo Mccormick, 2011īlek le Rat was born Xavier Prou in Paris, France in 1951. Fundamentally, it is of seminal importance and influence to the emergence of contemporary street art. “His work offers a devastatingly concise and provocative iconography of personalized social critique that is at once formal and lyrical. Blek shows clarity in his work, he makes every stylized mark count, yielding art that is at once personal and universal, economical in gesture and bountiful in statement.” - Shepard Fairey, 2011 “Blek le Rat’s stencils distill the essence of the human struggle into poetically concise images. “Every time I think I’ve painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek le Rat has done it as well, only twenty years earlier.” - Banksy, 2005 The sculpture contains a small rat by David’s feet-this iconic rat is found throughout the artist’s work, not only in this exhibition but across his entire oeuvre, as well.īlek le Rat is recognized as having influenced numerous contemporary artists working today. The subject matter for the bronze- Michaelangelo’s David, holding a rifle-is based on a stencil that Blek le Rat developed years ago which he has placed on the streets of cities all over the world. Ignorance is Bliss features a series of works on canvas as well as one bronze, marking the first time the artist has worked in sculpture. In conjunction with the exhibition, the gallery will be releasing a new print edition and the artist will be creating a public mural in New York City.
Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to present Ignorance is Bliss, a solo exhibition of new works by celebrated French stencil pioneer Blek le Rat in what will be his second solo exhibition at the gallery and his largest body of work, to date.
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