He has had a great influence on today's graffiti-art and ' guerilla-art' movements, the main motivation of his work being social consciousness and the desire to bring art to the people.

From that point on, he has worked exclusively with pre-stenciled posters, citing the speedier application of the medium to walls, as well as lessened punishment should he be caught in the act. 'Ballerina' by Blek le Rat at the 941 Geary Gallery, San Franciscoįrench authorities identified Blek in 1991 when he was arrested while stencilling a replica of Caravaggio's Madonna and Child, with the connection to Blek and his artwork being made by police. Blek's oldest preserved street art graffito, a 1991 replica of Caravaggio's Madonna di Loreta, which he dedicated to his future wife Sybille, was rediscovered behind posters on a house wall in Leipzig, Germany, in 2012.

In 1985, he was on the first meeting of the graffiti and urban art movement in Bondy (France), on the VLP's. He also recognised the influence of Canadian artist Richard Hambleton, who painted large-scale human figures in the 1980s. Initially influenced by the early graffiti-art of New York City after a visit in 1971, he chose a style which he felt better suited Paris, due to the differing architecture of the two cities. His name originates from the comic book Blek le Roc, using 'rat' as an anagram for 'art'. He described the rat as 'the only free animal in the city', and one which 'spreads the plague everywhere, just like street art'. 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.The iconic stencils of rats by Blek le Ratīlek began his artwork in 1981, painting stencils of rats on the walls of Paris streets.

“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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