Invader Strikes Again: New mosaic unveiled by French street artist for Paris Olympic Games

The mystery French street artist known only as “Invader” has struck again – this time to celebrate the Paris Olympics.

Invader, often compared to Bristol-born artist Banksy, has been gluing mosaics to Paris walls since the 1990s, usually at night and without permission. His works now dot all corners of the City of Light and his fans have a lot of fun hunting them down.

Fans of his work can download the artist's app, "Flash Invaders," which lets users photograph his artworks and receive points for each discovery. The app has proven to be irresistibly addictive, with nearly 400,000 players.

The new piece is the 1,512th that Invader has glued up in Paris.

It depicts of his signature Space Invader figures running - a fitting tribute as thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries and territories are in the French capital to compete at the Olympic Games that end Sunday.

The work’s colours are roughly the same shades of blue that Paris Games organisers have used to decorate the city for the Olympics.

A post shared by Invader (@invaderwashere)

On Instagram, the artist posted a photo of the work, captioned “a special piece for the olympics", with a couple of joggers running past.

That and a video post by the artist alerted some of his avid admirers that there was a new work for them to flash and earn points from.

A small group of them quickly gathered to take its photo with the app, get their reward, and spend time admiring the work.

“It allows you to look at life differently," said Gema Calero, an admirer of the artist. "You hunt around for the artworks. You look up a little bit. Because normally when we walk we look at what’s in front of us. This way we’re looking around. Yes, it’s super."

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