Pioneering French graffiti artist Blek le Rat counts the infamous Banksy among his many admirers. Born Xavier Prou, the artist was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris and has been described as the “Father of stencil graffiti.” Blek was introduced to graffiti after a trip to New York City in 1971 and was inspired to bring the style back to Paris, adapting the stencil as a more fitting technique for French architecture. He is best known for stenciling a giant graphic image of a rat all over Paris in the early 1980s, which to him symbolized both freedom and the dissemination of art through the city as if it were the plague. In recent years his work has become increasingly political, focusing on the homeless, the environment, and other social causes. Blek’s posters of kidnapped French journalist Florence Aubenas helped raise public awareness of her situation, pressuring politicians and journalists to work harder for her release. Graffiti writers around the world know the name that started it all: TAKI 183. A kid from 183rd Street in Washington Heights in northern Manhattan, TAKI's simple signature captured the attention of a reporter and, in the summer of 1971, an article appeared in The New York Times. TAKI, born Demetrius (and never revealing his full name) was the first New Yorker to become famous for writing graffiti. The floodgates opened and just like that TAKI 183 became the father of contemporary graffiti. His legend grew, and rumors spread that the artist even tagged a Secret Service car and the Statue of Liberty. Over the next decade, graffiti exploded into a colorful, stylish mural-sized art form. TAKI had no interest in this evolution and laid down his can of spray paint. The artist went on to college, learned car repair and bodywork, raised a family, and amid all the flurry of nearly 40 years of graffiti around the world, he has kept silent. Check out Blek le Rat's Instagram and Street Art Bio