While many youngins may be caught up in the brilliance of Banksy and the statement his graffiti makes because it’s seen as new and groundbreaking, we may be reluctant to think that he too could’ve been strongly influenced by someone else. Have you ever heard of Blek Le Rat? I’ll admit it, I hadn’t. In fact, if you showed me one of his stencils I would have said it was a Banksy point blank. Blek Le Rat, or Xavier Prou, was born in Paris in 1951 and is said to be the “Father of Stencil Graffiti”. To shed some much needed light on the trailblazing street artist’s work, the Street Knowledge Agency has just uploaded the half-hour Original Stencil Pioneer documentary about Blek Le Rat— from where he first stenciled to his materials used to how he got into the graffiti game to gain his ‘Father’ title. Even Banksy acknowledges Blek Le Rat in relation to his artwork: “Every time I think I’ve painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well, only twenty years earlier…” Now how’s that for props. Give yourself 30 minutes this weekend for a little history lesson…

Blek Le Rat “Original Stencil Pioneer” Documentary below…