For over twenty years, a mysterious French street artist relentlessly adorns walls with characteristic mosaics. You have certainly come across one of his works before. His trademark? The Space Invaders, small Pixelated aliens scattered across the four corners of cities and the globe. Focus on Invader, an artist resolutely contemporary who has managed to build an empire.
Invader, An Unidentified Living Artist
Both discreet and overexposed, transgressive and high-end, vintage and modern, Invader creates unexpected bridges between radically opposed poles.
« I define myself as an AVNI, an Unidentified Living Artist. I have chosen Invader as my pseudonym and I always appear masked. This allows me to attend my own exhibitions without visitors suspecting my identity or noticing my presence, even if I am just a few feet away. Since 1998, I have been developing a large-scale project. Its code name: Space Invaders.. »
This is what can be read about the Official website The tone is set! This self-description by Invader himself imbues him with more Mystery so that it illuminates its readers. Long before the advent of the surgical mask, the artist resorted to camouflaging their face to preserve their anonymity. The only clues at our disposal are their date of birth, 1969, their nationality, French, and his academic career, The Beaux-Arts de Paris and the Sorbonne. In the game of «Who am I?», Invader scores a point.
The Space Invader Project: When Street Art Colonises Our Cities
L'envahisseur joue de son anonymat to pique curiosity, to tease the imagination. Like a street art superhero, he roams the streets after dark to sow his pixelated creatures and perform his «urban acupuncture». For the general public, Invader is mainly A French street artist specialising in mosaics, responsible for one of the most famous street art projects in the world..
Life's work, the mosaic series named Space Invaders souffle en 2021 sa vingt-troisième bougie. Directement inspired by the eponymous video game from 1978, Invader simply found in this alias a perfect definition of his work: Invasion of space. He «likes to consider this work as a global project in which The concepts of the infinitely small and the infinitely large are in constant confrontation.».
Subtly integrated into the urban decor, the small Space Invaders ceramic tiles have colonised all the major world metropolises, from the Eiffel Tower to New York, via Mombasa or Kathmandu. There is now a colossal quantity of 3997 copies, scattered in 79 towns, don't 1465 are in Paris. Nothing is left to chance; each of these pivotal points has been meticulously studied and chosen by the artist.
Invader has made the planet his playground
Those who define themselves primarily as inhabitants of Earth have even infiltrated deep sea with the sculptures of Jason de Caires Taylor but also Space, becoming notably the first artist to install a work aboard the International Space Station. Invader, Public space hacker, launched with Space Invaders an artistic virus which is nowhere near stopping its pandemic.
His philosophy?“Any time, any where”With discretion and precision, Invader carries out a veritable Herculean labour. He constitutes the largest database of works never created by a single street artist. Since then, isolated individuals have tried to take over and perpetuate this movement initiated by Invader. Contagion successful.
In 2020, the artist based himself at MAMO, an art centre located on the roof of the Le Corbusier's Radiant City in Marseille. Its last operation was launched in 2021 in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana with a new exhibition at the museum thrown in Major General.
As a nod to the city's symbol, he chose the dragon as the motif for some of his creations.
It is now possible to discover one's 22 new mosaics, in addition to the 20 already present. Fancy conquering them? The artists of Street Designers will gladly guide you through the urban labyrinth of cities in France and around the world. During a Street art tour, you will go in search of the most hidden works.
Invader, from illegality to the top of the auctions
According to Invader, « The aim is above all to free art from the alienations that museums and institutions can usually represent. »So, is it politically engaged art? Not really, according to the artist. He doesn’t see himself as overtly political, even though he creates his installations «illegally at 99%».”.
If their aim is above all to to make art accessible to everyone in the streets, to create surprise and aesthetic astonishment, Invader has not escaped the art market system. Over the years, he has gained popularity to become one of the most highly-rated artists auction houses, like its English friend Banksy.
He finally multiplies the exhibitions in museums and galleries. A recovered or infiltrated art? We are the sole judges. As for him, Invader can only rejoice in being able to admire the expansion of his Pixel Art. at the top of the Eiffel Tower Like on Jacques Chirac's suit.
The first artist to be exhibited at the Louvre Museum during his lifetime, Invader also writes the history of art. Beyond Space Invaders, whose pixelated motif it retains, it reinterprets great works such as The Mona Lisa. A new artistic movement has been born: the Rubik's cubed, a clever blend of the famous jigsaw puzzle and cubism. His Mona Lisa was sold at auction for 480,200 euros in February 2020.
Theft and vandalism, the price of success
Far from the protection of institutions, urban works suffer from the vagaries of the outside world and the Greed. Invader has seen some of his mosaics vandalised, but also stolen for resale. To the great dismay of thieves, it is impossible to peel off Invader's works without destroying them. The Attempts at replies are therefore quickly ousted by proof of their inauthenticity.
However, it is difficult to guarantee their longevity in the urban jungle. The « reactivators »are working to give new life to deteriorated mosaics. This is how a group of volunteers restored the PA_689 fresco in Belleville. Digital creatures, initially predators in video games, are now prey. While some minds are ill-intentioned, others pursue them out of admiration.
A treasure hunt with the Flash Invaders app
Invader, an underground influencer, has amassed a huge database of referenced works, but also found a community. The dedicated mobile app The project connects virtual and real worlds to give rise to A planetary treasure hunt.
Originally, it was about him «freeing the Space Invaders from their game screens and bringing them into our physical world». Ultimately, they have returned to 21st-century screens, smartphones. Fans can scan the artworks with their phones to collect them. Each tile has a serial number and an associated point value.
The FlashInvaders app was launched in 2014. By scanning artworks worth 10 to 100 points, each participant can increase their score in the World ranking of «hunter». Playful, interactive, and digital, The project evolves with the times..
Between art, technology and crowd psychology, Invader's work plays with codes to build a unique empire. A «World Invasion» 2.0.
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Writing ©Joana Durbaku
