(NEXSTAR) – Keep your eyes peeled during the Olympics coverage all around Paris this summer. You may spot Mario, Pac-Man or a little alien from the game “Space Invaders.”
The pixelated street art isn’t what you typically imagine when you think of the French art scene. Mona Lisa at the Louvre or Monet’s water lilies are more likely to come to mind. But you don’t need to buy a ticket or wait in line to see the works of one of Paris’ most prolific street artists, who goes by the name Invader.
The artist has worked to hide his true identity as he has slapped the sides of buildings and monuments with the pixelated-looking pieces of art. When he started in 1998, Invader just did mosaics of characters from the game “Space Invaders” around Paris.
But since then his territory has massively expanded to include 83 cities, which he “invades” one at a time, plastering buildings and streets with dozens of symbols under the cover of darkness.
One of his pieces is affixed high up on the Eiffel Tower. The artist even became a literal “Space Invader” when one of his tags ended up on a window in the International Space Station in 2015.
His subject matter has also expanded quite a bit since his start in ’90s. While the video game characters abound, Smurfs, Gremlins and the Pink Panther also all appear among the 4,192 Invader artworks around the world.
Invader says he likes the 1980s iconography because “they are the perfect icons of our time, a time where digital technologies are the heartbeat of our world.” Because they’re made of pixels, they also lend themselves well to a tiled mosaic.
Not all the artworks are targeted at video game nerds or nostalgia. Some pay a tongue-in-cheek tribute to their location, like an avocado in Los Angeles, a camel in Morocco or money bags above a bank.
As you travel around the world, you can go on a scavenger hunt for the Invader artworks, earning points as you photograph them in the official app.
Residents of four U.S. cities won’t have to travel far. Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami and New York are all home to Invader pieces.
