Tokyo 8bit Street Art Shibuya
Attracting artists ever since the beginning of times, it is not surprising that there are many who come to Japan mainly for inspirational reasons. Every corner and every single impression can lead to amazing art.
In contrast to being inspired, there are artists who come to Japan to leave some of their masterpieces here. This can be done, of course, the traditional way by renting it out to a gallery or museum, but there is another unconventional unique and at times a tremendously dangerous way.
Street art is illegal, but some artists are willing to cross the line of law when it comes to showing their own personal work of art.
Famous foreign artists such as Banksy and his cousin invader are no exception.
Who would have thought, that you would be able to find street art of invader in hidden places of famous areas like Shibuya and Harajuku, made dangerously at night to avoid being arrested by the police? Maybe you have already seen it and wondered what that might have been?
Here is a number of places where Japanese traditional and modern pop art is meeting street art made by the French artist invader:
(Some have been removed already, so hurry to check them out if you recognize any of the places as long as they are still there!)
Invader adopted his artist name as an homage to the 80’s video game space invaders and often depicts 8-bit aliens in his works. To make an illusion of this traditional video game genre and get the original pixelated design, he uses square ceramic tiles, often picturing Japanese old-school video game and anime characters.
It is controversial whether it is true art or vandalism. But we would all agree that the works are charming and it takes a lot of time and effort (and courage!) to make art as a street artist, especially in a traditional country like Japan.
Source: Japan Info
