Banksy has been monopolizing NYC street art news as of late and since ANIMAL has been undoubtedly complicit in the fueling of the British street artist’s hype machine, we’re happy to report the arrival of Invader.

Short for Space Invader, he’s a semi-secretive French street artist who puts up illegal mosaic-style tiles fashioned after 8-bit arcade classics like Space Invaders (natch!), Pac-Man, and Super Mario Bros., among many others. And apparently he’s in town. “NY 7:16 am. 6th invasions of the night,” reads the caption for the photo of a Fire Flower that he put up somewhere in Chinatown.



According to Instagramer @nicershit, another of these newly installed tiles appeared on the Sunshine Theater, which is where Invader is holding a screening on Tuesday for his film, ART4SPACE, that documented the time he sent street art out of the Earth’s atmosphere. Can you think of a better way to guerrilla promote?

In addition to the ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Chinatown’ tiles, two others can be found on the New Museum (pictured above) and on Marshall Stack at the corner of Rivington and Allen Streets (pictured below).



For those of you looking to engage on yet another street art scavenger hunt, you can follow @Invader on Instagram for some clues to the location of the new pieces that he’s teasing out. “I finally opened an Instagram. Follow my Invasions…,” wrote Invader for his bio on the photo sharing app, that he confirmed online.

Although Invader is arguably one of the world’s most successful street artists, his work doesn’t get trashed nearly as much as Banksy’s, despite who is cousin is. There’s a few reasons for that. 1) Banksy is still the richest street artist in the world, so there’s no need to destroy Invader. 2) His tiles are way harder to fuck with due to placement and medium. 3) People genuinely dig his stuff. 4) He contributes to the street art/graffiti scene and doesn’t use spray paint. 5) This is all speculative bullshit, who knows why.

As always, if you see something, send something.

(Photos: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)