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Download press kit - Opera Gallery

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THE BANKSY POLEMIC<br />

French stencil artist vs. British graffiti hero…<br />

In 2008, British Graffiti artist Banksy acknowledged Blek Le Rat’s influence, stating this now famous<br />

sentence: "every time I think I've painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done<br />

it as well, only twenty years earlier" (first reported by Coan Lee, 13 June 2008, Daily Mail).<br />

In the past, the two have ex<strong>press</strong>ed mutual desire for collaboration and, indeed, in 2011 Blek Le Rat was<br />

witnessed adding to one of Banksy’s murals in San Francisco.<br />

When some claimed that Banksy had copied Blek Le Rat’s work, the latter disagreed and said: “people<br />

say he copies me, but I don’t think so. I’m the old man, he’s the new kid, and if I’m an inspiration to an<br />

artist that good, I love it.”<br />

However, the polemic was reborn when, in the documentary Graffiti Wars, Blek was filmed saying:<br />

"When I see Banksy making a man with a child or Banksy making rats, of course I see immediately where<br />

he takes the idea. I do feel angry. When you’re an artist you use your own techniques. It’s difficult to<br />

find a technique and style in art so when you have a style and you see someone else is taking it and<br />

reproducing it, you don’t like that. I’m not sure about his integrity. Maybe he has to show his face now<br />

and show what kind of guy he is."<br />

OPERA GALLERY AND BLEK LE RAT<br />

Representing the artist for over 3 years...<br />

<strong>Opera</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> is a global network of 12 galleries. The London branch opened in<br />

2005, and is located in the heart of London’s luxuriously Mayfair.<br />

In 2008, while Blek Le Rat was in London for his talk at Tate, <strong>Opera</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong><br />

Director and Chairman Jean-David Malat and Gilles Dyan met him and Blek<br />

showed enough trust and faith in them to provide the gallery with some pieces.<br />

This is how their collaboration started, and 3 years later the relationship between<br />

the international gallery and the artist has never been stronger: he is shown in all<br />

12 galleries around the world. He is also one of <strong>Opera</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong>’s most successful<br />

artists, and this is remarkable in every country where the gallery is present: <strong>Opera</strong><br />

<strong>Gallery</strong>’s clients and public know Blek Le Rat’s work and know him as the Father<br />

of street art.<br />

Nowadays, it appears absolutely undeniable that Blek Le Rat has gained the recognition that he<br />

deserves after decades of unstinting devotion to the arts in the streets.<br />

Jean-David MALAT, Director of <strong>Opera</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> London and Curator of this exhibition, was also a contributor to Art<br />

Publishing Ltd’s 30 year retrospective book “Blek Le Rat” - published in 2011 (http://www.artpublishingltd.com/new/blek/)<br />

QUOTES<br />

Blek Le Rat said…<br />

“As an artist I do not think that we truly invent anything at this point. For me it is more about focusing on a memory<br />

that I may have had, than actually inventing anything. People recreate what they have seen but with their own<br />

vision. I do not believe in the painter who says I invent this or that. It does not exist anymore. It is just how you do it<br />

that makes it different than others. I can say I have taken inspiration from many places in my life.”<br />

“I really believe the graffiti and street art movement is the most important movement in art ever. There is not a city<br />

in the world without graffiti now. It has never happened like this with the amount of people involved ever before.<br />

Not even in pop art, which was a big movement. Art should be saved for the future generations, which is why I<br />

think it is important for the gallery end to support street art, if for nothing else than for history.”<br />

FOR MORE INFORMATION - 134 NEW BOND STREET – LONDON W1S2TF +44(0)20 7491 2999 london@operagallery.com 2

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