Aladdin Sane (pinky)

This signed screen print from 2014 is a limited edition of 65 from Invader’s Aladdin Sane series. The small print comes in four different versions (Pinky, Blue, Yellow and Orange) with a variation on the base colour of the figure, in this case, a light-coloured pastel pink. It depicts Invader’s widely known and loved Space Invader-like characters, here in the guise of Rock and Pop singer David Bowie’s portrayal for his sixth album cover Aladdin Sane.

The singer is here portrayed through Invader’s digitised 8-bit aesthetics, which references the beginnings of digital imagery through the Arcade games of the 1980s. The singer is identifiable through the large red and blue lightning bolt which crosses the Invader’s bright pink face, who suspiciously looks away from the viewer towards the right angle of the image.

Through his homage to Bowie, the print showcases Invader’s engagement with pop culture. After starting his practice by quoting the famous antagonistic characters of the Taito arcade game, Invader has increasingly moved in his practice towards the quotation of popular culture, be this music, as in this case, movies, through his Rubkicubes’ portrayal of Jack Nicholson’s outstanding performance in The Shining or fellow artists like Tsang Tsou Choi (King of Kowloon) - see here the Scooter print.

Thus, the four works in the Aladdin Sane series reflect Invader’s desire to explore and engage with the iconic imagery of the modern era.