ARTCURIAL | INVADER - MEET THE DALAÏ LAMA

On Monday 5th July, Artcurial's Urban Art department will auction a major work by Invader: Rubik Dalai Lama, estimated at €300,000 to €400,000.

This assembly of 225 Rubik's Cubes on Plexiglas is part of the artist's Rubikcubism project, which began in the mid-2000s. This artistic series uses the famous coloured cubes as raw material to compose sculptures and paintings. Still working on the theme of the reproduction of the pixel, the artist extends what he had begun with the mosaic by creating, this time with the cubes, real paintings-objects in 3D. The constraints of the object - its size and its limited palette of 6 colours - lead him to produce works that only reveal themselves to a trained eye; almost abstract at first glance, they reveal themselves to the viewer when he stands back, blinks or looks at them through the screen of a digital camera!

The universal figure of the Dalai Lama also echoes Invader's personal inspirations, and in particular his growing interest in Tibetan Buddhism. Invader created Rubik Dalai Lama following a trip to Nepal during which he met Tibetan refugees. He subsequently developed links with many Tibetan monks, and installed several works from his Space Invaders series in Bhutan.

Rubik Dalai Lama will be offered for sale on 5th July, in line with the artist's Rubik's Cubes masterpieces that were sold under the gavel of Arnaud Oliveux's in 2020 and which obtained two successive world records; €480,200 for Rubik Mona Lisa, and €492,600 for Rubik Space.