A self-described 'Unidentified Free Artist' (UFA), Invader is a French street artist known for his 8-bit pixel style ceramic mosaics which adorn the walls of urban spaces across the globe.
Read MoreBorn in 1996 and raised in Paris, the artist who goes by the pseudonym Invader studied liberal arts at La Sorbonne University, followed by Fine Arts at École des Beaux-Arts de Paris. As a young artist however, Invader struggled to secure exhibitions in Paris galleries.
Supporting the continuation of his artistic practice financially by working in website design, the budding artist developed an interest in digital imagery and pixelization. Accompanied by a fondness for the 8-bit video games of his childhood, beginning in the 1990s Invader sought to bring physical form to digital pixels. Initially experimenting with paint on canvas the artist soon found he could recreate the pixelated aliens from his favourite arcade game with bathroom tiles.
In 1998, for fun, Invader deployed one of his creatures outdoors on a cement wall, the first of many to occupy Paris and subsequently many other cities internationally.
Invader's street mosaics, use colourful ceramic tiles to mimic the pixelated images of characters from 1970s and 1980s video games and cartoons. These works have expanded into indoor sculptures, paintings, prints, and digital platforms.
Part game, part artwork, part illegal intervention, Invader's 'Space Invaders' project is the core of his practice. Since 1998 the artist has carried out this ongoing large-scale urban art project in which he 'invades' cities across the globe with his mosaic pixel artworks.
A literal invasion of physical urban space, the artist attacks cities with waves of 20–50 artworks following a philosophy of 'anytime, anywhere.' Each of the near 80 cities the artist has 'invaded' has a running score that is increased by each new piece that is installed. Although developing in style and scope of characters, Invader began by making mosaic representations of the four kinds of aliens seen in the classic 1970s video game Space Invaders.
Morphing into distinct and original characters over the decades they have been joined by depictions of Pac-Man Ghosts, the Pink Panther, Peter Pan, and the Mona Lisa among others.
Some of the artist's better-known Space Invader interventions include installing Invaders on the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles in 1999 and 2002, SPACE2, a mosaic installed on the International Space Station in 2015, and two invaders submerged far below sea level next to Jason deCaires Taylor's sunken sculptures in Mexico's Cancun Bay.
Since 2004 Invader has worked with Rubik's cubes in a practice he coined Rubikcubism (a modern-day parody of 20th century Cubism). The artist adjusts the position of coloured tiles on the cubes to create images that become apparent from a distance.
Invader's Rubik portraits included recreations of the Mona Lisa, the Dali Lama, and 'Rubik Bad Men' like Scarface, Bonnie and Clyde, and Charles Manson. In 2009 the artist also began a series transposing famous album covers into the Rubikcubist format.
In a reversal of the theme of working from the digital to the physical, Invader also incorporates his work into digital platforms. Since 2008 he has made QR code mosaics which, when scanned, present text or animations. Invader has also created apps like Flash Invaders which encourages viewers around the world to seek out, photograph, and upload documentation of his works.
Beyond his core practice Invader also makes paintings, prints, and replicas of his pixel art for collectors to purchase.
Invader also made his filmmaking debut with ART4SPACE (2012) which documented the launching of his SpaceOne mosaic to the edge of space with a helium balloon. Invader was himself one of the subjects of Banksy's earlier film Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) alongside Mr. Brainwash.
While Invader has created numerous works in public spaces spontaneously, and often without the property-owners' permission, the artist has also completed authorised public art commissions. Self-described as his '1% legal' works, these include Invaded Bridge (2008), a permanent installation for a bridge in Vienna's Museumsquartier, an invasion of the exterior of the Daejeon Museum of Art in South Korea (2009), and a large-scale mural for Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris (2016).
Invader has been the subject of both solo and group exhibitions internationally.
Solo exhibitions include: Invader was here, MaMo, Marseille, France (2020); Wipe Out, HOCA Foundation, PMQ, Hong Kong (2015); Reality Game, Citylights Gallery, Melbourne (2003); Same Player Shoot Again, Almine Rech, Paris (2000).
Group exhibitions include: Beyond The Streets, Twenty Five Kent, New York (2019); Art in the Streets, MOCA, Los Angeles (2011); Copy it, steal it, share it, Borusan Center for Culture and Arts, Istanbul (2003); Version_2000, Centre pour l'Image Contemporaine, Geneva (2000).
Invader artworks for sale at auction have fetched as much as six-figure prices. In 2015 a replica of Invader's Alias HK-58 (2014), a life-size image of the cartoon character Hong Kong Phooey, sold for Over $US 250 000. That same year another replica of a large-scale work by the artist sold at Christie's for over $US 340 000 setting Invader's auction record.
Invader's website can be found here and Invader's Instagram can be found here.
Michael Irwin | Ocula | 2022
