Invader Prints For Sale

The mysterious French street artist Invader, who calls himself a "Unidentified Free Artist," is well recognized throughout the world for his pixelated tile mosaics. The performer identifies as a "Unidentified Free Artist," hiding his identity behind a mask and using a pseudonym. Invader is a French artist who created pixelated tile mosaics that have been displayed in towns all over the world.

• Beginnings

  Invader, who was born in Paris, France in 1969, got his moniker from the Space Invaders arcade game. The identity of the artist is still a mystery, and no one has ever seen his face. As a result, he says, "even if I stand a few feet away from guests, they won't know who I really am when I visit my own displays." Graduate of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Invader has been working on his well-known Space Invaders project in Paris and other locations since the 1990s.
  Early in the new millennium, Banksy shifted to the stencil, which required less time to create. Steve Lazarides, a photographer from Bristol, became Banksy's agent and helper after becoming enamored with the street artist's early stencil creations. Banksy's debut gallery exhibition, Turf War, which he presented in 2003 at a warehouse in Hackney, East London, was a huge success.

• Early Works

  Invader's first mosaic installation first debuted in 1996 close to Place de la Bastille in Paris, but the Space Invaders project didn't start until 1998. The initial "invasion" was a little ceramic square tile replica of a Space Invaders character from the 1978 Atari video game that was put into a Parisian street wall. It is currently impossible to locate because it has been painted over.
  
  The Space Invaders are "the ultimate emblems of our day," according to the artist, "a period when digital technologies are the heartbeat of our globe." Soon after this initial installation, Invader started his global "invasion waves" and went on to "occupy" 65 locations in over 30 nations as well as 31 cities around France.

• Most Famous Works

  Early in his career, on New Year's Eve of 1999, Invader performed one of his most well-known actions when he placed a mosaic on the Hollywood sign's D in Los Angeles to symbolize "the Y2K bug." Since then, Invader has expanded his work from the Space Invader's initial concept into new icons influenced by Pac-Man and other 8-bit video games as well as characters like the Pink Panther, Spider-Man, and Popeye.
  
  The Space Invaders project is well-documented, and the artist's website includes a map showing the locations of his pieces labeled "World Invasion." Invader now has a digital database to archive every piece of his creation, which was originally documented on paper using city maps and notebooks and is now highly sought for on the market.

• Style & Technique

  The artist targets densely populated cities all over the world, searching out highly visible and historically significant spots to install his mosaics. He primarily employs "guerrilla" tactics to make his Space Invader pieces. Every city Invader "invades" will have 20 to 50 mosaics on display, while some cities will have more than others. Each tiled piece receives "points" from Invader based on where it is placed and how well it performs, with each city being ranked according to its overall score. This is the most addictive game I have ever played, Invader said in 2011.
  
  To retain his identity and since he frequently hangs his paintings without authorization, Invader works at night. The artist uses weather-resistant tiles to create each mosaic, calling them the "ideal material" to bring the pixelated look of video games to public settings. It normally takes at least a week to complete the installation process, including location scouting, recording, and mapping.

• Success

  The Space Invaders project, which "invaded" towns all around the world, has become one of the most well-known street art pranks in art history. With his success, Invader has increased the locations where his business is conducted. A Space Invader mosaic can be located at the bottom of Cauncun Bay, under the water, and another can be found in the International Space Station, 248 miles above the earth.
  
  The artist has been employing Rubik's Cubes to construct a series of works for interior display since 2004, which he refers to as "Rubikcubism." Invader has staged solo exhibitions in Australia, France, the United States, Japan, and Hong Kong.