In case you don’t know, and it still does surprise me that people have not heard of him, INVADER is a Parisian based artist who primarily works in the streets and is now a highly collected blue chip fine-artist as well. His main medium is mosaic tiles, but he also does work manipulating Rubik cubes into pixelated imagery.
Like Banksy, INVADER works anonymously and grew up influenced by punk culture. Unlike the Bristol artist, INVADER’s work is more a celebration of pop culture rather than a sociopolitical commentary that sticks-it-to-the-man and winds-up authorities. As with Banksy, the anonymity has added to his attraction and allure. But I believe INVADER's motivation may be more that it allows him operate freely and not have the hassle of celebrity fame interfering with his practice. Daft Punk got it right.
I honestly can’t remember when or how I first discovered him. He was definitely part of that first wave of street art that was being disseminated and shared through the internet, Flicker, etc.. In 2007 when I started working on my first book, STICKERS: from Punk Rock to Contemporary Art (now long out of print), I reached out to him to see whether he would let me include a work as a peel-out sticker in the book. When the book came out, we were invited to do the Stuck-Up wall for The Wynwood Walls project, he was also putting up a wall & I met him.
*Daytime & Invader photo © Martha Cooper
That began an ongoing generosity that has continued for nearly 20 years.
He gave the "OK" to include another work in the Sm;)e book, and when Rizzoli commissioned a second a volume of the of the STICKERS book, I asked if he would be interested in writing an introductory essay, on which he did an incredible job. For that book, he also designed a full sheet of peel-out stickers, and actually signed 200 of them for the crazy tricked-out Deluxe version of the book. *Version shown her does not contain his signature.
He has also made a substantial number of stickers himself, which over the years he has sent me to add to our 10,000 sticker collection. His sticker archive lives in a 4 x 4 foot Plexiglass panel, along with “100 Years of Culture Told Through Adhesive Materials” that I'll hopefully be able to donate to an institution or museum one day. (Until at least February, it, the Invader, and a few other panels are on display at the new STAPLE store at 21 Mercer St)
When I started working on Blurring Books’
THE UNBELIEVABLY FANTASTIC ARTISTS' STICKERS BOOK, our first official hit, INVADER was one of the first artists I reached out to as a contributor. Sadly, the timing didn’t work for him. So, I’m sincerely hoping that it does for volume two!
One of my favorite things about INVADER’s world is his app
Flashinvaders. Hard to describe in only a few words, but it’s like an analog, real-world version of Pokémon GO for art nerds. He “invades” a city putting up new numbered works. Then a community of over 400,000 art nerds like myself, track down, “Flash” them, collecting points. The early works were very simple space invader shapes but now they often relate to the location or a pop culture theme that he is interested in.
His recent
Triple Trouble exhibition with Damien Hirst and Shepard Fairey in London gave him the opportunity to do a new invasion of the city which happily coincided with my family trip! If nothing else, Flashing Invaders is a fun way to explore cities and get your steps in. This London this trip, my daily average was 18,000. I got to catch up with old friends, Mikey, Mickey "Flashing" with them, my sister Brie, Eve's BF, Julian & even Wini!
My memory is terrible now, and getting worse, I think. So, part of the reason I do this blog is simply to keep track of all the cool stuff happening and record old memories as they come to mind.
