Invader is one of the most enigmatic and influential figures in contemporary Street Art. Active since the late 1990s, he has conquered the streets of the world with thousands of small mosaics inspired by the aesthetics of arcade video games from the previous decade. His name pays homage to the 1978 game Space Invaders, from which he drew not only his pseudonym but also his stylistic signature: pixelated aliens made of tiny colored tiles, scattered across city walls like cultural viruses.
His work is a universal and immediate language, blending pop culture, video game nostalgia, and a hacker mentality. Invader defines himself as a UFA—“Unidentified Free Artist”—playfully referencing the concept of a UFO. His interventions are unauthorized, yet executed with military precision: every installation is mapped and documented in a system he calls an “invasion.”
The work Alert, System Infected (red) is a limited edition screen print. Against a black background, a stylized human face emerges alongside a comic-style speech bubble, from which a red alien figure appears. The visual effect evokes the interface of an old computer infected by a virus. Within the context of this section of the exhibition, the piece takes on the meaning of digital rebellion.
The alien carries an unsolicited message, a form of visual hacking that contaminates public space. It symbolizes a short circuit between systems—real and virtual—that Invader infiltrates, pixel by pixel, with irony and method, highlighting how art itself can act as a bug in the system.
