For those of you who missed it or like me, live too far away to visit, here are some photos of the work that was created by a myriad of this countries (if not the worlds) best known ’stencil artists’. Enjoy.

‘Everytime I think I’ve painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well. Only twenty years earlier.’ Banksy

Long before there was “street art” as we now know it, there was Blek le Rat. He was one of the first graffiti writers in Europe; one of the first people to use stencils to make public art on the street; one of the first, if not the first, to break away from the dominance of New York graffiti style; and one of the first to use icons instead of writing his name.

He has been an inspiration to artists all over the world, from JayBadbc to Oseas Duarte to Shepard Fairey to Banksy – whose work is often an homage to le Rat’s iconography.

A legendary figure in street art Blek Le Rat (Xavier Prou) was born in Paris in 1951. Thought by many to be the father of stencil graffiti as an art form Blek began his unique, complex and intelligent stencil works on the streets of Paris in the 1980’s.

His work has once again come to the fore (ironically thanks to the popularity of Banksy). There is a Blek le Rat book coming out, published by Thames & Hudson. Should be available in May 2008.

Enjoy the work of the ‘Godfather of stencil art’.