Space Invaders in Marseille

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Perhaps you’ve already come across these little mosaic creatures on the walls, in the corner of a street, an extraterrestrial, a gabian or even the Good Mother? These atypical and colourful works of art have blossomed in the city under the 2020 summer sun! There are 100 of them, all scattered around the city! Discover these surprising mosaics by the artist Invader and let yourself be carried to the Le Corbusier building, where the artist had set up his studio at MaMO, the Cité Radieuse art centre located on the roof terrace.

INVADER and his work around the world

Invader is a French artist born in the 70s. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and specialised in urban mosaics. His first mosaic was laid in the Bastille district of Paris in 1996. It was a Space Invader, which he nicknamed “l’éclaireur” (“the scout”), but it was only 2 years later that the invasion really began. He went on to create and install his works in cities all over the world, in strategic locations where they could be seen by everyone, but his mosaics can also be found far from the big cities (in Forcalquier, La Ciotat, etc.) or in unusual places such as the bottom of Cancun Bay, where 2 works were placed in 2007. One of his works, ‘space2’, even went into space on board Ariane 5 to be installed on the International Space Station.

His mosaics have evolved over the years, and now include not just aliens (Spaces Invaders) but real or imaginary characters or objects (fish, octopus, pink panther, Woody Allen, etc.). His works are unique and are referenced in a database and mapped by the artist himself. Like many urban artists, his works are often installed without authorisation and are put up quickly, usually at night. Like Banksy, he wishes to remain anonymous, and most of the time appears masked or disguised (some of his “anonymous” outfits can be seen at the ” Invader was here” exhibition at MaMo).
The “invasion” is now spreading all over the world, and Marseille is the 2nd largest French city to have been “colonised”.

There are now 3,954 Space Invaders around the world.

    Did you know?

    In 1998 Invader placed ten Space Invaders mosaics in the Louvre Museum in Paris without authorisation. Some were so well hidden that they remained undiscovered for several years! Today, there are none left.

      Invader in Marseille, an open-air exhibition!

      At the start of summer 2020, Invader took over the urban space of the Phocaean city to install his creatures. Having already been here twice in the past, this year the artist has pulled off a feat by installing more than 80 works in just two months! It’s an invasion of Planet Marseille! There are now almost a hundred mosaics in Marseille, spread out from Goudes to Estaque! The game now is to find all these mosaics hidden in the different districts of Marseille! a real treasure hunt.

      Invader set up his ‘base camp’ in the unusual setting of the MaMo (an art centre on the roof terrace of the Immeuble le Corbusier), where he was able to prepare and work in secret throughout the summer of 2020. The MaMo was the nerve centre of this open-air exhibition!
      The mosaics were first installed around the Art Centre, and then throughout the city, as the artist calls it “urban acupuncture”.