Two decades later, stencilled rats appeared on the streets of the United Kingdom, quickly becoming prominent motifs in the work of artists like Banksy. This was " because rats are the only wild animals living in cities, and only rats will survive when the human race disappears and dies out. Also known as Xavier Prou, Blek - dubbed the ‘Father of stencil graffiti art’ - began to spray-paint small rats on the streets of Paris, and on the banks of the river Seine. The popularity of the rat as a Street Art symbol began with the rise of Blek le Rat - a French stencil artist who initiated the urban art movement in France during the late '70s. The work can be read as a comment on the ever-increasing presence of surveillance equipment in major cities, such as London. Stencilled in signature Banksy style, the Radar Rat appears to be listening intently to the world around him.
In 2008, the image appeared on the cover of Dirty Funker’s ‘ Future’ album. Originally known as ‘Sonic Rat’, the work was first released in 2004 by Banksy’s print publisher Pictures on Walls (POW), at the artist’s Santa’s Ghetto pop-up shop 2 years earlier, in 2002, Radar Rat had appeared on several walls around London. Banksy's Radar Rat, building on the artist's recurrent rat motif, portrays a rat resting on its hind legs, wearing headphones and clutching a tape recorder.
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