Notable compositions by Xavier Prou include Madonna with Child (Leipzig, 1991), and the Escaping Paris collection of lithographs (New York, 2014). ( Artist website) Read Less Artwork Copyright © Blek Le Rat

Prou's work typically depicts images of pop-culture or historical figures (sometimes including himself) in incongruous or surreal settings, painted in lively, vivid and eye-catching colors. Prou's painting can be characterized as 'guerilla-art' - emphasizing its unorthodox and underground nature, and he has worked with a variety of mediums throughout his career - such as spray-paint and stencils, canvas painting, photographs, and lithography. Xavier Prou is generally considered to be a pioneer and innovator of the street-art and graffitimovement, and is acknowledged by numerous contemporary artists as a major influence - with British artist Banksy notably stating his admiration for Prou's work. Educated at the prestigious Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied fine art and architecture, Prou was one of the first (following on from Gérard Zlotykamien) to create stencil paintings on public buildings in the French capital in the 1980s. In many ways, Banksy also uses the symbol of the rat as a way of aligning himself with the wretched and the underdogs whom he often speaks about or on behalf of in his works.'Blek le Rat', otherwise known as Xavier Prou, is a French postmodern graffiti and public- space artist. “If you are dirty, insignificant, and unloved, then rats are the ultimate role model.” Instead, it seems he prefers monkeys for his original and editioned canvases. Given the relative importance of rats in the artist’s iconography and symbolism, Banksy has done a surprisingly few number of originals with them as the main protagonists. Banksy also realized numerous prints on paper in 2004, featuring various of his iconic rat characters. In terms of artistic output, Banksy has realized many murals featuring rats – mostly in England, and they tend to be smaller pieces.

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