We are very honored to announce a true pioneer and inspiration to many street artists around the world, Blek le Rat, who will be showing with us next month for the Friends with Knives Exhibition alongside other artists Broken Crow, Chris Stain, Dave Lowell, E.L.K, Greg Boudreau, HAHA, Henry Quiara, Joe Iurato, Koleszar, Leckomio, Mefee, Nathan Phaneuf, PaperMonster, Peat Wollaeger, Scotch and Shai Dahan.
On display by Blek le Rat will be his ever so stunning and clever piece "Lunatic" (shown below)
Blek le Rat is noted in his bio as follows:
Blek le Rat, widely considered as the Godfather of modern Street Art, was the first to use stencils for silhouettes on the street. He studied engraving and architecture at Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He would leave his mark in the world's biggest museum, the urban landscape through his life-size stencils. Inspired by graffiti he had seen on a trip to NYC in 1971 and a stenciled portait of Mussolini from WW2 which he had seen in Italy in his childhood, he sprayed small black rats running along the streets of Paris in 1981. The rats made him quickly known in Paris but it was only two years later, with the silhouette of an Old Irish Man, that Blek and his stencils became recognized all over France. Blek feels very close to his characters and always tries to link them to the environment in which he is working. The interaction created between the image, the space and the beholder is essential to understand Blek's approach.
Blek has been investigating the urban space for over 28 years and still continues to inspire urban artists all over the world
He also has an amazing history of solo shows and group shows he has participated in at galleries around the world. See below to see for yourself:
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
May 2010 show at White walls gallery San Francisco
2009 Solo show at Metro Gallery Melbourne Australia
2009 Installation at Phaiz, Chicago
2008 Paris—NY, NY—Paris. Jonathan LeVine Gallery. New York, NY
2008 Art Is Not Peace But War. Subliminal Projects Gallery. Los Angeles, CA.
2008 Blek Le Rat Retrospective. Black Rat Gallery. London, UK.
2006 Blek Le Rat in London. Leonard Street Gallery. London, UK.
2002 Blek Was Here. Urban Art Gallery. Berlin, Germany. (1st show since since 1993)
1993 La Belle et la Bête. Galerie Arnaud Brument. Paris, France.
1993 Grafitti in the Castle. Castle Paul Ricard. Paul Ricard, France.
1991 Blek le Rat from Paris to Tokyo. Takarashi Gallery. Tokyo, Japan.
1991 Stencils on Wood. Galerie Christophe. Paris, France.
1991 Exhibition Schabonen Graffiti Blek le Rat. Ephemere Gallery. Leipzig, Germany.
1991 Performance. Concert Hall of Elysée Montmarte. Paris, France.
1990 Permanent Exhibition. Galerie Christophe. Paris, France.
1990 Installation. Galerie Patrick Riquelme. Vannes, France.
1989 Installation. Huber Volker Gallery. Lisbon, Portugal.
1988 Exhibition. French Institute of Mainz. Mainz, Germany.
1988 Nuit du Palace. Le Palace. Paris, France.
1987 Performance. Salon du Livre. Sainte-Etienne, France.
1986 Installation. Forum of Rock. Montreuil, France.
1985 Peinture Sauvage. Galerie Saint Claude. Paris, France.
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2010 5th anniversary Jonathan Levine gallery NYC
2009 A Whole In The Wall (NYC) Galerie Helenbeck Paris
2007 Streets of Europe. Jonathan LeVine Gallery. New York, NY
2007 White Noise. Black Rat Press. London, UK
2007 Eleven: Group show of eleven contemporaries, Leonard Street Gallery, London.
2006 11 Spring Street. Curated by Marc & Sara Schiller of Wooster Collective. New York, NY
2005 Urban Wallpaper. Taipei Artist Village. Taipei, Taiwan
2003 Workshop in The Open City: Models For Use. Kokerein Zollverein. Essen, Germany.
2002 Installation with Lee Quineones. Reitschule. Bern, Switzerland.
1992 L'Art Vif, la Revue Parlée. Centre George Pompidou. Paris, France.
1992 L'Art Vif. Espace Carnot. Lille, France.
1992 Un Regard sur l'Art. Musée Creusot. Creusot, France.
1992 Fin de Millenaire. Espace Belleville CTFD. Paris, France.
1992 Graffiti in Cavern. Galerie Le Cailar. Le Cailar, France.
1991 Street Art. Globus Gallery. Leipzig, Germany.
1989 Les Rencontres de Marrakech. French Institute of Marrakech. Marrakech, Morocco.
1989 And der Wand (On the Wall). Kunstverein Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden, Germany.
1989 Schablonen Graffti (Stencil Graffiti). Kunstverein Heildelberg. Heildelberg, Germany.
1989 Schablonen Graffiti (Stencil Graffiti). Gemeentemuseum. Helmond, Netherlands.
1989 Cannes Biennial. Palais des Festivals Cannes. Cannes, France.
1989 Art Urbain (Urban Art). Hotel de Ville Buffemont. Val d'Oise, France.
1988 Graffiti in the Street, Exhibition in the Institute. French Institute of Naples. Naples, Italy.
1988 Histoire des Rockers. La Villete. Paris, France.
1988 Shadow and Light. Lara Vinci Gallery. Paris, France.
1987 Musée International de Graf. Galerie L'Autre Rive. Paris, France.
1986 Pochoirs (Stencils). Agnes B Gallery. Paris, France.
1986 Emotion. Ministry of Culture. Saint Quentin, France.
1986 Stencil Graffiti in Tulles. Peuple et Culture. Tulles, France.
1986 Urban Art Show. Galerie Jean Marc Patras. Paris, France.
1986 In Between Out. Palais des Papes. Avignon, France.
1986 Verbes d'Êtats. Centre National des Arts Plastique. Nice, France.
1985 Les Artistes au Téléphone. Galerie Pierre Lescot. Paris, France.
1985 Affiches Détournees. National Center of Contemporary Art. Paris, France
1985 Frescoes on Walls. French Ministry of Culture. Paris, France.
In addition to an amazing show history, Blek le Rat has been featured in top publicatations such as Time Magazine, New York Magazine, Juxtapoz, Swindle and more.
We can't say enough when it comes to Blek.
To check out more on Blek le Rat, you may visit him online at:
http://bleklerat.free.fr/
If you are a serious collector and have any questions, email us at info@crewest.com .
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