Invader’s Rubik Camouflage print is emblematic of the artist’s career as an urban disruptor. For decades he has raided cities around the world with his pixelated mosaics, often inspired by iconic video games of the 8-bit era. In Rubik Camouflage, a white Space Invader-like creature appears against a colourful background of blue, red, yellow and orange, arranged in the style of a military camouflage. Invader has said that “This piece speaks about the invasion of new technologies in our lives.”

This work, a 100 x 100 cm Diasec-mounted Giclée print on aluminium composite panel, was created in collaboration with HENI Editions and derives from RLRi, sculpture produced in 2010. Like all of Invader’s ‘Rubikcubist’ artworks, it was entirely created with Rubik’s Cubes, whose blocks had been arranged and stacked in a specific order for the image to emerge. Unlike his street art works, which are assembled with flat tiles, his three-dimensional sculptures involve a considerable amount of mental effort, as each puzzle needs to be individually manipulated.

Reproducing the most iconic characters from global popular culture, Invader has over the years developed a personal, immediately recognisable language. Through his street art interventions, all of which are unique and fitted with ID numbers, he encourages viewers to explore unexpected parts of urban spaces, maintaining awareness of the complex social and geographical networks surrounding his art. Rubik Camouflage, by contrast, is removed from its urban setting and its connections to landscape. In this print, the gallery space or the collector’s home become part of that complex artistic and spatial system. Each edition of Rubik Camouflage has the potential to become a point of access into Invader’s subversive yet poetic world.