Invader’s Lower East Side Mosaics Revealed; Rumors of Arrest Last Week [PHOTOS]

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Invader installing tiles on Hotel Chantelle

Invader lived up to his name last week upon arrival on the shores of New York City. The French-based street artist, who specializes in 8-bit tile mosaics, has spent plenty of time embedding video-game-inspired artwork throughout the Five Boroughs. Unfortunately, Invader reserved the biggest mosaics for points outside the city. Like the Joey Ramone in Brooklyn, which deserves to sit near his former stomping grounds on the Bowery (i.e. CBGB).

But what about the Lower East Side? Challenge accepted. Here are some of the Invader pieces that we found:

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Invader’s Ninja Turtle

Broome Street, Williamsburg Pizza

Seems fitting that there would be a Ninja Turtle sitting outside the Williamsburg Pizza outpost at Broome and Allen Streets. Definitely some synergy there, but shouldn’t it really be Michaelangelo (“he’s the party dude”) and not Leonardo?

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Ludlow Street, Hotel Chantelle

Invader embedded the tiling in the wee hours of Friday morning. The piece was not commissioned by the bar, as previously reported.

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Bowery/East Houston

Located above and beside the Paulaner Brauhaus at 265-267 Bowery. The piece is a nod to the beer-soaked history here, both with the current brewery tenant and its decades-old ancestor, Sammy’s Bowery Follies.

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Bowery/Hester

Series of space invader video game characters embedded in the tenement lintels.

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Photo: Jackie M. Jensen

Lafayette Street, Sant Ambroeus

Okay, this admittedly isn’t on the Lower East Side. Located above the Sant Ambroeus restaurant.

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Attempts at removing the art for personal gain might prove futile. Indeed, the New York Times first reported that these mosaics will be harder for collectors to steal.

To thwart those who might take down his work for their own profit, he said, he has sought out sites with natural architectural recesses or filled-in windows. By installing a piece in the exact size and shape of these nooks, he leaves little wiggle room for anyone who might try to pry them out.

In recent years, he has also used larger, thinner tiles: Try to jimmy them off, and they’ll chip apart rather than popping off intact.

Also of note is the fact that the 7th Precinct didn’t seem to mind Invader installing these pieces. An insider notes that the street artist isn’t really “on their radar.” That it’s already understood he’s received permissions from building owners before going into the field.

But we did hear of an arrest made outside the 7th Precinct, despite working on a “permission piece.” Firm details on the collar are scant, though.