Love street art? Love remembering gaming? Either way, you have most likely experienced the work of Invader, even if you didn't know it. Invader is a French street artist and somewhat of an enigma. He has invaded over 100 cities worldwide, with his unmistakable pixelated ceramic mosaics placed onto walls, bridges, and buildings in urban guerrilla "invasions". Invader's works, generally inspired by 1970s and 1980s video gaming, and more specifically, Space Invaders, slip into the intersection of retro-pop culture, tech, and urban insurgency.
Anonymous and unmistakable, Invader has resulted in a cult-like following from collectors and gamers alike. His mosaics and limited edition studio works are now found at major auctions, making owning a piece of Invader no longer just an urban myth, but a legitimate piece of art investment. Check out our collection of Invader works by taking a look at our artworks for sale, from coveted mosaics to his Rubikcubist works, which are all authenticated and ready for purchase.
About Invader
Invader is a mystery laid down with ceramic tiles. He was born in France in the late 1960s or 1970s (we think) and studied at a Parisian art school. He began what he referred to as urban acupuncture: a small episodic instalment of tiled mosaics based on 8-bit video game characters, as part of the fabric within cities. He started his first documented 'invasion' in Paris in 1998, and he has never stopped since.
Invader works at night and has "invaded" over 80 cities around the world, including New York, Tokyo, and Kathmandu. Each mosaic is geotagged and catalogued in a digital archive, often with accompanying scores in a gamified global project. They aren't just works of art, but missions too.
Iconic Series and Artworks
It all started with Space Invader, but Invader has never been about sticking to one form. His Space Invader mosaics are still the core of his practice - those pixelated alien figures, stuck into bricks, steel, and concrete; guerrilla art meets geek nostalgia.
Then comes Rubikcubism: the genius pivot that Invader made when using hundreds of twisting Rubik's Cubes to mash up portraits of icons ranging from Warhol to the Dalai Lama. The custody of Rubik's colour treatment actually results in some unexpected visual poetry.
And yes, he has even created QR Code mosaics - scannable tiled artworks, which shift the line between physical and digital.
Many of his most legendary value is in the form of large scale installations which allow for pieces to be located in Paris, LA, Hong Kong, and Rome. He even "invaded" the underwater museum of Cancun in 2015! No surface is off limits.
Artistic Techniques and Themes
Invader ultimately chooses ceramic tile as his medium, retaining the durability, weather proofing, and pixel-perfect production of the material. He produces the mosaic in his studio, and then goes around cities for a city (which are often in hard-to-reach places or places which people always view).
The themes he addresses are around issues related to digital culture, urban sprawl, and the visibility versus anonymity duality. In a similar respect to how the 8-bit characters of games become more visible in cities, their essence inherently, Invader's work is similarly reflective of how technology, our use of technology on a personal level, and a collective nostalgia as social structures continually reshape the experience of public and private space. What starts as a playful visual disruption serves as a broader criticism of cultural imperialism, viral content, and spatial ownership within the city's footprint.
Art Market and Investment
Invader, the fun, secret pastime of the subculture enthusiast, has now become a staple of the global art market. His works Rubikcubism, sell for more than £300,000 at auction, and his mosaic works routinely keep over six figures.
In 2023, Invader sold a mosaic from his Space Invader works series for more than $600,000 at Sotheby’s. Invader established his practice as street art became one of the hottest trends.
His authenticated studio pieces and limited edition works are always bought as new collectors, in addition to seasoned art investors, enter the market. As his works have received much notoriety globally, and supply is limited, Invader has an upper hand with future return potential across cultural and financial appreciation.
Authenticity and Provenance
When it comes to street art, provenance is everything, and with Invader, you can be sure that all the works available have been checked for authenticity as part of the FairArt guarantee.
With the flood of copies and fakes on the street art market, especially with Invader's work, only buy works on the secondary market that are certified through Invader's official studio.
To obtain authenticated Invader works, we check that they are published with a certificate on an Invader ceramic tile, and if so, we will be sure that you receive COAs through Invader's official studio. Some works end up in his online Invasion database, where you can view the coordinates of the mosaic and other information, like the score (points in the game) of the mosaic. If you have any questions, contact support@fairart.io.
Check out our authenticated Invader artworks collection and take part in the global invasion - one tile at a time.