RUBIKCUBISM - A logical exhibition by Invader
June 11 – July 9, 2005

Reception: Saturday, June 11 from 7-10pm (Invader will be present)
*Book signing for I Invade Los Angeles: Saturday, June 11 from 5-7pm
@ sixspace :: 549 West 23rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007

Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday from 12-6pm
Contact: Caryn Coleman – caryn@sixspace.com / 213.765.0248
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On June 14, sixspace will experience an invasion with RUBIKCUBISM – a logical exhibition by French artist Invader featuring mosaics, video installation, and both small and large-scale sculptures. For the past five years, Invader has conducted worldwide “invasions” with custom site-specific mosaic pieces based on the 1978 video game “Space Invaders” created by Toshiro Nishikado; the streets of Paris, Tokyo, New York, London, and Los Angeles (among many others) have become components in his public art planetary invasion. In his work, Invader connects the relatable elements of the past to the inescapable/fantasized about future through a complex weaving of signifiers that reference the iconographic and temporal nature of pop-culture and technology.

Where Pop Art once shifted the notion of the artwork towards that of commodity by generalizing mechanical reproduction, Invader puts forward the notion of dissemination as the nodal point of his work. He underscores the important transformation of our societies affected by information networks, while grounding his work in a material and human reality. He plays on the dematerialization of data by giving us work made using a time-honored traditional technique. Jean Marc Avrilla (2005)

With his new body of work in RUBIKCUBISM, Invader has taken himself from the landscape of the street and transplanted himself into the white cube environment of the gallery as he continues to explore his interest in the iconography of 1980s games, including Super Mario but, in particular, Rubik cubes. As a medium, the Rubik cube is consistent with Invader’s interest in pixilation, aesthetics, and colors. By moving from two-dimensional works into the three-dimensional sculptural pieces of the Rubik cube, the process of learning about this particular “game” occurred; Invader associates with learning the “rules” of painting. At sixspace, these sculptures, who often times depict his infamous “space invaders,” will include hanging and static sculptures as well as a twelve-foot installation created from boxes to resemble large-scale Rubik cubes.

Invader also debuts his “Alias” series in RUBIKCUBISM. A true specimen, these “aliases” are exact replicas of the original street version cast in a resin block. Complete with a photo-documentation certificate and documentation including location, date, points (like the game, “space invaders” are assigned points relating to difficulty) etched into the resin, these one-of-a-kind “aliases” allow people to adopt an invader and, in such instances when the original no longer exists, they serve as a preserved memorial. Additionally, Invader will present a moving picture sculpture with an old sticker-covered computer and desk playing a quasi slide-show of low tech movies -- addressing the change that will occur in the future that will make this out-dated machine seem very strange/antiquated.

Invader (b. 1969) lives Paris, France. He has held exhibitions all over the globe including Paris (France), Istanbul (Turkey), Toyko (Japan), Melbourne (Australia), New York (New York), Geneva (Switzerland), and Hong Kong (China). Select publications include Giant Robot Magazine (cover), Wired Magazine, Parachute, Relax, and Le Monde. This summer Invader will be featured on the cover of Europe’s Modart Magazine and Los Angeles’ Swindle. He has two books focusing on the invasions of individual cities: I Invade Paris (2004) and I Invade Los Angeles (2004). His third book, Rubik Space, has just been released. RUBIKCUBISM will be Invader’s first major gallery exhibition in North America.