Critical Review
Home Mars is an embossed signed screen print in colours with applied foil on wove paper made by the ground-breaking contemporary artist Invader in 2010. The print comes in an edition size of 50 and was published by Pictures on Walls. In this screen print, Invader depicts a pixelated alien character from the popular arcade game, Space Invaders. The alien is rendered using grey pixels and Invader adds two bright red eyes to the alien’s face. The character is set against a dark blue backdrop and a strip of red pixels lines the bottom of the composition which matches the colour of the alien’s eyes.
The use of pixels in Home Mars resonates with other works produced by Invader in which the artist creates mosaic-like artworks through the use of pixel shaped tiles. These artworks have been installed in cities all over the world, making Invader a truly global artist.
Like the renowned British street artist Banksy, Invader’s true identity is unknown. Born in France, the artist describes himself as an ‘Unidentified Free Artist'. Invader conceals his true identity by using a pseudonym and wearing a mask in public. Not only did the game Space Invaders inspire this artwork, but it was the source of inspiration for Invader’s pseudonym, as well as many of his other artworks. Invader’s visual language and artistic style is greatly influenced by the arcade game and the pixelated style used in Home Mars resonates strongly with computer game graphics and their 8-bit visual register.
