
Aladdin Sane
7 works

Versailles (Black), 2018
Embossed screen print on paper
21 x 19 in 53.3 x 48.3 cm
Edition of 100
Invader has established himself as one of the most distinctive and sought-after figures in contemporary street art, renowned globally for his mosaic tile installations that translate the pixelated aesthetic of 1970s and 1980s video games into urban interventions. With works installed in over 80 cities worldwide and a practice that bridges public art, limited editions, and institutional recognition, Invader commands significant attention from collectors seeking artists who have successfully transitioned from the street to the gallery while maintaining artistic integrity and cultural relevance. Versailles (Black) from 2018 exemplifies the artist's sophisticated approach to printmaking, presenting an embossed screen print that demonstrates his continued exploration of historical and cultural references through his signature pixelated visual language. The work draws upon the grandeur and symbolic weight of the Palace of Versailles, reinterpreting this emblem of French classical architecture through the democratic lens of early digital imagery. The black colorway lends the composition a graphic boldness and formal clarity, while the embossing introduces a tactile dimensionality that elevates the work beyond flat reproduction, creating subtle interplays of light and shadow across the paper surface. Issued in an edition of 100, this work represents an accessible entry point into Invader's oeuvre while retaining the collectibility that has defined his limited releases. The modest edition size ensures relative scarcity within a market increasingly attuned to the artist's output. Guy Hepner is pleased to offer this work to collectors seeking to acquire a significant example from one of street art's most intellectually rigorous and visually distinctive practitioners. For acquisition inquiries and additional information, please contact the gallery directly.
Price on Application

Versailles (Black) | 凡爾賽(黑) · Invader · Sotheby's · 2021-09 · $723

VERSAILLES (BLACK) · Invader · Sotheby's · 2020-09 · $664


Invader is a French anonymous artist who has, since 1998, systematically invaded the urban fabric of cities on six continents with small mosaics constructed from ceramic tiles in the pixelated visual language of the 1978 Space Invaders arcade game. His identity remains rigorously concealed — the anonymity is not incidental but structural, an integral part of the work's meaning and its market mystique. Named after the Taito Corporation's iconic game, Invader treats the world's cities as a single global canvas, each installation a tile-based creature adhered to a building facade, a bridge, an underpass, a museum exterior — anywhere the public gaze might fall, and many places it is unlikely to.
The scope of the project is genuinely remarkable. Invader has completed invasions in more than eighty cities across more than thirty countries, installing over four thousand individual works in locations from Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, and Los Angeles to Kathmandu, Hong Kong, and beyond. Each city invasion is documented in a limited-edition artist book — the Invasion Guides — which function simultaneously as artworks, catalogues, and maps. The Flash Invaders mobile application allows enthusiasts to locate and photograph his works in the field, converting the invasion into a participatory urban game. This ecosystem of books, maps, and digital tools has built an unusually engaged and knowledgeable collector community around his practice.
The range of Invader's output includes ceramic tile mosaics installed in situ (photographed and sometimes deaccessioned), canvas mosaics produced for the gallery market, prints, and multiples. His work has appeared at Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, and Bonhams, where canvas mosaics and major works command five-figure and above results. His print editions and multiples — often created in small, controlled runs — are actively traded by collectors who engage with the full breadth of his output. Series include Space Invaders, Aladdin Sane, the Alert System, and Rubik Cube works deploying the pixelated aesthetic of the source game across an expanding range of subjects and references. His anonymity sustains a market dynamic in which scarcity and mystique compound one another: there is no studio to visit, no social media presence, no commercial gallery partner. What exists is the work itself, the documentation, and the global community of those who seek it out.
Invader has exhibited at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and MOCA Los Angeles, receiving institutional recognition that underscores the seriousness with which the art world regards his project beyond its street-art origins.
Guy Hepner represents Invader editions and multiples from our gallery at 177 Tenth Avenue, New York. We offer collectors authenticated works with full documentation, expert guidance on valuation, and access to a broad network of buyers and sellers active in this market. For those wishing to buy or sell Invader works, or seeking a free valuation of works in their collection, we are well placed to assist.