Invader: biography
Invader, artist internationally known, was born in Paris in 1969 and still spends his days in the French capital when he is not working on his waves (as he calls his invasions) around the world.
Invader: style
Invader drew inspiration from the alien characters of Space Invaders Arcade Game, the iconic online game of his generation, to create his own unique style. To reproduce the pixels of the game’s 8-bit graphics, the street artist uses ceramic tiles, evoking the ancient mosaic technique. The subjects of his works are initially Space Invaders, the characters from the video game, but over the years his repertoire has expanded to reproduce the Pink Panther in Paris or the emperors Justinian and Theodora in Ravenna.
Invader: the Spaces Invaders project
After studying in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts, in 1998 he developed Space Invaders, a large-scale project. His mission? Invade as many cities as possible and bring his pixelated creatures into the real world!
Invader installed his first mosaic in Paris, but to date his Street Art works can be seen in over 65 cities in 33 different countries from the US to Australia, underwater and in Space. In fact, since 2015, one of his mosaics has gone into orbit aboard a spaceship!
Invader always acts disguised and anonymous, but there is a small part of his work that he calls 1% legal which consists of public commissions from museums, cities or private individuals. An example? The mosaic on the facade of the Salpêtrière hospital in Paris or the Space Invader at the entrance to the Daejeon Museum of Art in South Korea.
Invader: QR Codes
In 2008, new QR Code technology helped Invader develop a new series of Space Invaders: composed of black and white tiles. These mosaics hide images, videos or phrases that can only be deciphered with a smartphone.
Invader: Rubikcubism
Invader is a tireless artist and his exploration of the link between pixels and mosaics in 2005 led to Rubikcubism, a new movement he created! Invader creates works composed solely of Rubik’s Cubes that are assembled on a board.
The works are divided into three series:
- Bad Men, portraits of famous villains who occupy a place in history
- Low Fidelity, covers of his ten favourite music albums
- Masterpieces, tributes to the great masters of art. Of this latest series, Invader’s Mona Lisa is surely its most iconic work.
Invader: guides and maps
Since 2003, Invader has periodically created Invasion Guides, guides that tell the story of the invasion of a city, the most famous of which are those of Rome and Ravenna.
The Invasion of Rome was the first in Italy and it was made possible thanks to the Wunderkammern gallery that collaborated with the artist in the creation of the project.
To keep track of all his interventions, he also created maps and, above all, the FlashInvaders app: a real treasure hunt for his fans.
Invader: exhibitions
Invader has had solo exhibitions in art galleries in Paris, Osaka, Melbourne, Los Angeles, New York, London and Rome. He has exhibited in prestigious museums around the world including Musée en Herbe in Paris (2017), HOCA Foundation in Hong Kong (2015), MOCA in Los Angeles (2011) and Borusan Center for Culture and Arts in Istanbul (2003).
In 1998, the artist made an invasion with ten Space Invaders at the Louvre, becoming the only living artist exhibited in the museum.
