Analysis, Blek le rat.

Xavier Prou AKA Blek le rat was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris and has been an inspiration to the British street artist commonly known as Banksy. He is known as the father of stencil graffiti, beginning his work in 1981 spray painting black rat stencils on the streets of Paris. This was a metaphor for the rat being the only free animal in the city. 

Link: This a picture of the Blek le rat's famous rat stencils and his trade mark or event tag as it is known in the graffiti world. As I said before the black rats are a symbol of freedom as they are left to roam the streets as they please. When I look at the colours, the red I cant help but see it as a symbol of dictatorial rule, communism, Nazi Germany's swastika which featured these three colours. Even though France is a democratic country as is the united kingdom there are times when we wonder if we have freedoms or if they allow us freedoms. Blek Has used a stenciling technique to apply his work to the streets, this gives a clean edge to the images but also allowed him to create a unique style when the common method would have been to spray paint straight onto the wall. This also form a practical point of the graffiti artist to quickly apply their work to a surface.

Link: This piece can be found on Leake street in London and is in a place called the tunnel, a legally permitted graffiti area which was created for the can festival organised by Banksy. This picture just uses black and white which doesn't draw attention away from the images and the message that they are trying to speak. To me that message is a possible representation of social standing in society. On the left we have a man in a smart suit carrying two cases full of what looks like papers or money illustrating the rich and the upper class. On the right there is a man sleeping on the floor who appears homeless at the lower end of the social ladder. Finally in the middle we have a sheep, a representation of the rest of society everyone in between. The sheep is usually a symbol of someone who does as they are told, follows orders, can't make up their mind and follows others. I think that he is suggesting that everyone in the middle are made to follow the orders of the rich and the people in charge. They have been created as a charade, an illusion as the face of while the rich get richer and the poor stay poor.