A couple of years ago, I met Blek Le Rat, AKA Xavier Prou, at a private view in London – his private view. While we had a little language issue – his English is about as good as my French – I couldn’t help but to like the guy. He had this cheeky glint, as if he were permanently amused. And who could blame him? There was some heavy action going on at the view; I have never seen such a serious amount of sales. The gallery could hardly keep up with demand.That evening was one of those mashed-up graff nights with D*Face showing down the road at Stolen Space. However, the two exhibitions, which essentially came from the same place, were a world apart. D*Face was, and is, something else. His work has come so far; he is now a fully-fledged, frankly outstanding talent. Blek Le Rat, meanwhile, is a seen it all, been it all, who’s fast being overtaken as the international stencil king by the ubiquitous Banksy. How it will turn out who knows, but one thing’s certain, Mr. Le Rat is where it all started. In fact, you could argue, that without the cheeky Frenchman, Banksy would never have travelled the road he's taken. Come on, where do you think all those rats came from?
Now, Blek Le Rat, like Banksy, is debuting at LA's Subliminal Projects Gallery with a show entitled ‘Art is not Peace But War’. The exhibition represents, in title, the difficulties of working as an artist. Difficulties, which undoubtedly bring forth great things, great thoughts, great work, and great art.
Blek Le Rat 'Art is Not Peace But War’ @ Subliminal Projects Gallery, 1331 Sunset Boulevard, L.A. Until 2nd May 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment