Remember those paint-by-numbers kits that Mrs. Measley used to keep on the top shelf of her hallway closet next to a couple of handmade quilts and a moth-eaten cardigan? During the winter months, the lady who lived in the apartment upstairs used to have one on her kitchen table by the window for some lovely afternoon painting – filling in the appropriate shape with the color corresponding to the number printed inside the form. Somehow you knew what the picture was when she was finished, but it was easier to see if you stepped back a few feet and sort of blurred your vision.

You may want to use that skill when viewing the new Invader show in Brussels opening this month at MIMA, the Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art. The French street artist is known for creating popular characters in the style of vintage 8-bit video games on walls in cities around the world. It is an early video game reference that is nostalgic for a particular age group of people who long for those simpler times before streaming surveillance and facial recognition.

A few years ago, the artist created his digital reference for his rounded square pointillism called Rubikcubism. Presented as a feat achieved by manipulating the popular kid’s toy from the 1980s, the artist recreates famous artworks and movie scenes as ‘canvases.’  The obliqueness of the image recognition also echoes the anonymity of the street artist, who steadfastly hides behind the Invader name after a few decades of illegal installations of tiles stuck high above the street.

With “Invader Rubikcubist” the museum is bracing for a hugely successful summer show with the exhibition featuring the first sculptures presented from the series and a few special new sections like Rubik Bad Men, devoted to the figure of the villain, and Rubik Masterpieces, an homage to masterpieces of art history.

INVADER RUBIKCUBIST
​24 June 2022 > 08 January 2023
​MIMA
​39-41, Quai du Hainaut
​1080 Brussels

For more information and details click HERE

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