French street artist Invader (who prefers to keep his real identity anonymous) has been transforming mosaic tiles into instantly recognizable artworks since the late 1990s. Originally inspired by the pixelated characters in a computer game, his early works, reminiscent of creeping alien crabs or insects, would cling unobtrusively to the exterior walls of Parisian buildings.

In the last few decades, the artist’s Space Invaders have popped up in 80 international cities, steadily becoming more ambitious in theme, scale and palette. The inspiration for each works is always site-specific: sometimes they evoke the colors of national flags, recall familiar cartoon characters, or honor masterpieces. For instance, a Space Invader version of the Mona Lisa is located near the Louvre, another of La Source by Ingres is in Montauban, home to the Musée Ingres Bourdelle, which commissioned the piece.

Space Invaders have also been spotted in increasingly unlikely locations, from a ski lift in the Swiss resort town Anzère to Cancun Bay, where they are installed on Jason De Caires’ underwater sculptures off the coast of Mexico.

Η συνέχεια εδώ.