Interview with Blek Le Rat

Hello Blek, Can you introduce yourself in 4 words?

In four words? Stubborn, optimistic, aside, ready for anything.



You're a bit of a pioneer in the graffiti world...What was your first drawing in the 80's in Paris? And why?

My first graffiti were rats, I was making them run along the city walls. Rats because they create fear, they synonymous with invasion and that they are the only wild animals with pigeons who lives in the city.



What was your motivation at the time? Was it political (Socialism in power in France?), or just vandalism....

No vandalism or political at all for me it was a way to tell other that I existed in the anonymity engendered by the life of the city.



Did you have access to computers at the time. How did you learn to draw?
What is your process in creating your larger pieces?

The computers did not yet exist to my knowledge at that time the first time I saw one I think it was in 1985 or 86 but it seemed extremely complicated to handle.
In fact I learned drawing at the School of Fine Arts in Paris when I was student in printmaking and after in architecture.
To create a large stencil I used to draw sketches from photos that I had taken, or that I found in newspapers, magazines, covers disk and then I worked these drawings so as to erase all gray and to keep only blacks and whites, then I made a stencil according to my design.
You can find some of these preliminary drawings in the book published by Thames and Hudson and written by Sybille Prou and King ADZ.



You travel all over the world, can you see a difference in the street art/graffiti movement between countries?

Even in the graffiti movement, there is a phenomenon of globalization that is happening.
But there are still some small difference between artists but it is a fact that everybody wants to talk about the same things.



Also noticed that you have a bit of fan club in Japan! How do you explain your success over there?

This has always been one of my dreams totravel over there, I love their culture, it might be because of that ... I do not know ...



How do you chose the characters in your pieces and is there a simple message you're trying to share by using these images?

I selected them because each of my characters are somewhere what I am. They resemble me, they are what I would have liked to be or what I am or what I will be.
And as I am a witness of my era they are also the testimony of that time.



Where can we see your work in 2008 Blek?

On April 5 I will do an exhibition in Los angeles in the gallery created by Shepard Fairey Gallery "Subliminal project" and on May 8 in a London gallery at "Black rat press" (Mike snelle) for the launch of my book edited by Thames and Hudson "getting through the walls" and written by Sybille Prou and King ADZ



Blek Le Rat website