Street art and stencils: discover the artists of the art scene through their work

Introduction to the Stencil in Street Art

Le stencil is a technique widely used in street art and is renowned for its versatility. It makes it possible to produce rapid reproductions of a subject in large numbers on different media, while retaining a certain uniqueness. The simplicity of this technique, which requires only a hollowed-out plate, makes it accessible and in keeping with the low-tech spirit that often characterises street art.

Thanks to its ability to quickly reproduce images and/or messages on walls, stencilling is a very popular and effective communication tool used to express dissenting opinions. Paradoxically, it is also used by the authorities in various countries for official signage, to mark roads, and for aggressive guerrilla marketing campaigns.

Stencils can be used to produce unique, large-scale works, as well as enabling medium-sized formats to be reproduced quickly. Working with a stencil is appreciated for the precision of the line it allows, as well as for its speed of execution compared with freehand work on a wall. This speed is particularly useful for artists working illegally.

The History and Evolution of the Stencil

Stencilling, a technique that allows images to be reproduced quickly, was used by Shepard Fairey for the worldwide "Obey" advertising campaign. However, it is also characteristic of another Street Art stencil monster, artist Banksy, who has used stencilling to create unique and sometimes large-scale works, including hijacking road signs, but we'll come back to all that soon.

Of all the techniques used by street artists, stencilling is certainly one of the oldest, dating back to prehistoric times, when the first humans left negative traces of their hands on cave walls. Similar stencilling techniques have been used since ancient times in various parts of the world, including China, Egypt and the Middle Ages in Europe, where it was used to reproduce decorations in churches and palaces. For example, the stencilling technique was used to create the feigned drapery that features on the fresco of the "Cycle of Months" in the Castello del Bon-Conseil in Trento.

The cartoons used by medieval and Renaissance painters to outline figures on walls can also be seen as the precursors of stencilling. Similarly, Art Nouveau and Art Deco used this technique to add colour to book illustrations and engravings. During the counterculture years, stencils and silkscreen frames became essential for disseminating the images and slogans of student and labour movements, particularly through manifestos and leaflets. Politicised artists also used stencils, such as Fernando De Filippi, who included a hollowed-out plate depicting the hammer and sickle in an artist's book entitled "Private Revolution" in 1974, inviting readers to use this tool to politicise the decoration of their homes.

Innovations and key figures

Stencilling was also used artistically from the 1970s, notably by New Yorker John Fekner, considered to be a precursor of Fashion Moda street art and close to conceptual art. Fekner used stencils to apply texts linked to his environment, such as "Last Hope" and "Broken promises", to the architectural ruins of the South Bronx.

Stencilling gained popularity in Europe in the early 1980s, with artists such as Nylon in the UK, close to the punk band Crass, Thomas Baumgärtel (aka Bananensprayer) in Germany and Dr. Hofmann in Spain. However, it was above all the French art scene that stood out, with artists such as Miss Tic, Némo (often in collaboration with Jérôme Mesnager) and above all Jef Aérosol and Blek le Rat. Blek le Rat contributed to the development of stencil art, which became a worldwide phenomenon under his direction.

Jef Aerosol

Jef Aérosol concentrates mainly on reproducing life-size human figures, painted very realistically, which he paints directly onto walls or onto cardboard which he then glues. These figures can be beggars or anonymous children, or film and music icons such as Syd Barrett or Bob Dylan.

Although Jef takes part in major street art festivals and special projects - one of his stencils, The Sitting Kid, was created on the Great Wall of China - he prefers to showcase his work in cities, discreetly installing it on street corners to surprise passers-by.

Xavier Prou alias Blek le Rat

Xavier Prou, known by his pseudonym Blek le Rat, is regarded as the pioneer of stencil art and street art in general. After studying academic art and specialising in engraving techniques, he discovered the tags of first-generation graffiti artists during a trip to New York in 1971.

He was attracted to stencilling when he discovered it in Italy, where he saw a portrait of Mussolini dating from the Fascist era. His first stencils, created from 1981 onwards, depicted rats (hence his nickname). 

Subsequently, his works grew in size and ended up depicting life-size figures that he skilfully integrated into the urban landscape with colour. He was arrested in 1991 while painting a reproduction of Caravaggio's Virgin and Child on the Champs-Élysées. Since then, he has stopped painting directly on walls, opting instead for stencils on paper, which he quickly applies to walls.

Blek le Rat has had a significant influence on one of the world's most famous street artists, the Englishman Banksy. "Every time I have an idea, I discover that Blek le Rat has already done it twenty years ago", said Banksy, referring to Blek le Rat's work.

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Banksy: A Street Art Icon

Born in Bristol, which is now proud of his many interventions, Banksy uses stencil as a double-edged sword, on the one hand to express his irony, provoke, challenge authority in all its forms and parody it, and on the other hand to sharply criticise capitalism, the exploitation of man and nature, war and its profiteers, the symbols of power and, in general, the "society of the spectacle" to use Guy Debord's expression. 

After getting his start in the world of graffiti with the Bristol group DBZ, Banksy chose to use stencils to speed up the work process. 

In a short space of time, he has made a name for himself and his reputation has grown exponentially over the years, thanks in particular to ventures such as the one that led him, along with other street artists such as Blu, Ericailcane and JR, to create works on the wall that separates Israel from Palestine, on the themes of freedom and escape.

Banksy has recently turned his attention once again to the conflict in the Middle East, creating several works amid the ruins of Gaza, which he describes as "the biggest prison in the world". The Israeli authorities forbid access to these places, so he had to use clandestine tunnels to get there.

As well as these spectacular actions, his highly realistic stencils are, in many ways, in the purest and most disrespectful spirit of street art.

This is reflected in his depictions of innocent children wearing gas masks, snipers ambushing each other in the streets, policemen kissing each other or the Queen's guards writing on walls like vandals or urinating in the street, not to mention rats engaged in shady activities, to name only his best-known subjects.

At times, he also draws on the situationist practice of distorting communications from authority.

For example, Banksy created stencils on white walls in the middle of the night, using official language and signs to authorise graffiti in certain locations. Within a few days, these 'authorised' areas were filled with slogans and graffiti, as passers-by looked on in amazement.

Banksy's name is closely associated with stencilling, but his artistic and subversive research also leads him to other projects, such as installing parodies of artefacts in major museums like New York's MoMA and London's Natural History Museum.

His many interventions in public space are also interesting, such as the stuffed crows that seem intent on ripping the wires out of surveillance cameras, the piles of road signs, the warnings against nuclear danger in public parks, and the recent (from 21 August to 27 September 2015) creation of a temporary and disturbing theme park, Dismaland. Interest in Banksy has boosted his stock in a market where extravagant means are met with perplexity, such as the auction of illegal stencils, removed from walls with the same care as medieval frescoes.

The Banksy myth is also the focus of a documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), directed in part by Banksy himself and featuring fellow street artists such as Invader, Shepard Fairey and Michael De Feo. 

Banksy is not the only stencil artist to work on the various official communication events. Some have specialised in original interventions, even going so far as to modify the signs painted on the ground.

For example: Canadian Peter Gibson, also known as Roadsworth, is known for his creative stencilling of road signs, turning solid lines into zips or dotted lines to be cut out with a large pair of scissors. His actions have landed him in trouble with the law, including an arrest, but also major commissions, such as for the 2007 Tour de France.

Stencils can also be used in an amusing way, for example in The Art of Urban Warfare, a project launched between 2002 and 2005 by Influenza, an artist living between Paris and Rotterdam who specialises in urban installations and sticker bombing. After publishing a manifesto inviting everyone to make stencils of soldiers' profiles, in green, blue or brown, these little characters invaded the walls of Paris and fought little 'battles' in which the army - the colour - with the most stencils was the winner.

C215

The stencils of C215, a Frenchman known for the precision of his cut-outs, are particularly appreciated for their poetry and artistic quality. Since 2009, he has been travelling the world, portraying street people, the homeless, the poor, the misfits and the orphans with great attention to detail. He doesn't idealise them, but shows their inner selves. Originally in black and white, his stencils are now characterised by a powerful expressionist chromaticism that accentuates their psychological depth. In general, stencil purists prefer to use a single colour, usually black, to emphasise the contrast between the brightness of the background and the sign drawn with colour, usually using an aerosol can.

Norwegian artist Stein creates freehand-printed stencils that can be seen all over Europe, whether in the street, in the layering of advertising (posters, advertisements, etc.) or in abandoned places populated by his characters.

Unlike most frescoes, stencils, like stickers and posters, don't usually take up much space on surfaces. However, street art has no rules, apart from that of continuous experimentation. That's why, in some cases, stencils can cover entire facades, bringing them closer to mural painting thanks to the different techniques used.

The Italian collective Orticanoodles is an example of the use of street art to convey a strong symbolic, cultural and social value. Their technique consists of using a stencil to transfer a drawing onto a wall, using cardboard pierced with holes corresponding to the contours. One of the portraits created by Orticanoodles is that of Francesca Rolla, considered to be a messenger of the resistance, and which can be seen in Carrara.

Sten and Lex are Italian artists known for their original technique known as half-tone stencilling (or hole school, as they call it). They have taken part in famous events such as Banksy's Cans Festival in 2008 and the Nuart Festival in Norway in 2010, and have recently broadened their field of action by using the 'poster stencil', which consists of large black and white photographs printed on paper and stuck onto large surfaces. To create these works, Sten and Lex cut out the black parts directly on the wall and then apply colour to this giant matrix. When the work is finished, the matrix falls to shreds and becomes an integral part of the work, until it is weathered away.

Above, a Californian street artist known for his arrows hanging from trees and electrical wires, is also an important figure in the use of stencils. He distinguishes himself by using this technique in two ways: on the one hand, he reproduces his logo image, an arrow pointing upwards, on all kinds of surfaces, from walls to stickers, and on the other, he creates extremely elaborate and ironic full-length figures, sometimes accompanied by installations of objects that serve as iconographic and poetic complements.

It's important to note that all the examples mentioned so far are exceptional and remarkable uses of the stencil technique by artists. In short, they are masterpieces of varying sizes, but by their very nature they are ephemeral and transitory, as it bears repeating.

We also sometimes see stencils in more modest formats that prefer repetition to uniqueness. These works are often composed of human faces or everyday objects (such as the toasters of the English collective The Toasters, which can sometimes be seen at the centre of large frescoes) and have references to pop art and its method of multiplying images of consumer products. Although less remarkable than certain works that stand out for their gigantism or ironic, irreverent message, the aesthetic of repetition has also played a central role in the history of wall art since the era of the first tags.

In some cases, stencils are not used on their own, but rather as a tool to enhance other urban art techniques, such as stickers or frescoes. For example, Italian artist Tvboy uses stencils to create a background pattern on which he can paint a mural.

In addition, like the graffiti of the Fashion Moda era, stencils can be used on other artistic media, such as the works of American artists Chaz Bojórquez and Logan Hicks, the Englishman Nick Walker or the Mexican Gerardo Yepiz, better known as Acamonchi. Stencilling can also be used to create stand-alone productions, such as T-shirts, record sleeves or skateboards, which are generally sold at an affordable price by the artists themselves in order to finance other projects or broaden their audience.

This article would not be complete without mentioning the names of some famous and active stencil artists, such as the Spaniards Noaz and Btoy (known for their polychrome stencils that sometimes turn into large-scale murals), the Englishwoman Bambi (sometimes called the "female Banksy"), the Italian Lucamaleonte (known for his stencils with very precise graphic details), the Dutch Pochoir King (a pioneer active since the late 1970s), the Norwegian Anders Gjennestad (his "anti-gravitational" stencils offer bird's-eye views of people walking on a wall and their cast shadows), the Argentinians Nazza Stencil and Bs. As. Stencil (whose works have a strong political and social connotation), as well as the Iranians lcy and Sot.

But stencils are not just used in the street by Street Artists in urban works. Many artists use stencils to create Pop Art paintings, as did Andy Warhol, for example, using a technique very similar to stencils, screen printing.

We'll talk more about this in a later article.

Unleash your talent with our Street Art stencils!

If you're an artist with a passion for urban art and want to express your creativity through Street Art, we invite you to discover our selection of Street Art stencils. These stencils will enable you to create original and daring works, inspired by the techniques and styles of the biggest names in urban art. So don't wait any longer and immerse yourself in this form of contemporary art that's transforming our streets into veritable open-air galleries!