Street Art in Paris #8

Since first arriving in Paris, we have enjoyed viewing a variety of street art.  One frequent image is the alien creature from the 1970's video game Space Invaders, like the examples below.  

The anonymous artist is known as "Invader", of course.  The artist has been active for a couple of decades, in Paris, elsewhere in France and all over the world.  The ceramic tile mosaics are usually placed high on corners of buildings, where they are easy to spot but difficult to reach.  One estimate is that Invader has placed about 2,700 mosaics in Paris and around the world, including cities like Amsterdam, Hong Kong and New York.     

We learned from a tour guide that Invader has an app.  You can create an account, snap a photo of the image and learn whether it is genuine.  You receive symbolic points for each genuine image that is captured.  The points are added to your account and you can see how your tally measures up against thousand of others players.  (There are about 20,000 players currently.)  

Over the years, Invader's street art has become quite popular and pricey.  At an auction house here in Paris, we spotted a large Invader mosaic that eventually sold for nearly $400,000 (photo below).  No joke.

The images often relate to their location.  The mosaic below, a dove with olive branch, is located near the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

The Invader mosaic below is located near the luxury watch shops of the Place Vendôme.

The mosaic below, located in Versailles, depicts French King Louis XIV who became king on May 14 in 1643.

Because of Invader's popularity and the high prices that the images fetch, a band of thieves two years ago attempted to remove some genuine Invaders from the sides of buildings in Paris.  Posing as city workers and armed with ladders and chisels, the thieves chipped away.  If you have ever removed tile, you know what happened--the tiles broke into small pieces.  The thieves were unable to remove any of the images intact.  Many of the images were damaged, like the two below.  

There are many authentic Invaders in Paris, plus many similar mosaics, like the ones pictured below.  

This mosaic seems to be an homage to Banksy's "Flower Thrower"

Below is a collection of more Invader mosaics that we have spotted during our ramblings around Paris.  

A replica of a Paris street sign

When stared at, this mosaic creates a strange optical effect. 

Spidey and friend hang out above the street where we live. 

Thanks for viewing Invader street art with us.  Jean-Claude has spotted 61 mosaics so far (plus a few fakes that do not count).  Only 2,500+ to go.