Thursday, April 10, 2008

Blek Le Rat And The Origins Of French Graffiti



Not that The Corsair is decidedly pro-Parisian graffiti, but we found this interview -- in something unfortunately called "Fecal Face" -- quite interesting. Apparently, Blek Le Rat is the cardinal influence of Brangelina's favorite artist "Banksy (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment)," and, we take it, the Aristotelian Prime Mover of Parisian Graf (The Corsair classes up his glass with a Napoleonic brandy). From FecalFace:

"I had a very good friend who was from New York, and he told me that I must go to New York. He said for me it would be such a big discovery. You must remember this was 1971 in France, just 20 years after the war. Life at that time in France was very poor and there was not much going on. I traveled to New York and was really impressed by the graffiti art. Seeing the writing in the subway and a signature with a crown, I said to my friend Larry, 'what is that, what does it mean?' Larry told me 'I do not know, those people are insane.' Keep in mind he too was an artist but he did not understand it either. At the time I was a student of architecture in Paris, it took me ten years to finish school. It also took me ten years to realize that graffiti art was very very important. At that time Basquiat and Keith Haring were not known in France, in the States maybe, but not in France. I had in mind the graffiti from New York and I knew that something was happening in New York by that time. I told my friend J.R. in Paris about the writing in the subway and the streets of New York and he said 'That is a fucking great idea.' In the beginning we tried to do American pieces but it did not work, we did not have the style. Also, the spray can paint was very expensive in France and we were very cheap with the paint, you know!"

The full interview here.

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