Rubik's Cube Mona Lisa by French artist on auction
A version of the Mona Lisa made with Rubik’s Cubes by French street artist Invader is being auctioned in Paris, and is expected to sell for at least €120,000-€150,000.
The “Rubik Mona Lisa” artwork is being sold by auction house Artcurial on the Champs-Élysées today (Sunday February 23).
It was created in 2005, and uses almost 330 Rubik’s Cubes: the 3D puzzle popularised in the 1980s and created by sculptor Erno Rubik.
The Cubes have been set up and aligned so that they present an image of the well-known Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci, in the “pixelated” style associated with Invader.
The Rubik Mona Lisa is the first in a series by Invader, dubbed “[Rubik] Masterpieces”, in which he will recreate other famous artworks in this style.
Arnaud Oliveux, Auctioneer at Artcurial, told the Agence France-Presse: “Invader is originally a Parisian artist, but he’s really a worldwide artist, because he has created ‘invasion’ campaigns in cities all over the world.
“He has [now taken] Rubik’s Cubes, and decided to use them as a medium for a series of works, taken out of the context of street art that Invader comes from, to make gallery works like this one, which is one of the first.”
Invader, real name Franck Slama, is well-known for his “Space Invader”, computer-game-style street art works - often mosaics, below - that have popped up on walls in 65 cities, across 33 countries (and counting).
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(Photo: Kurtxio / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0)
His work is often dubbed “Rubikscubism” for its pixelated-style appearance (this is also a play on words on the 20th century “Cubist” movement).
His work has been exhibited in art galleries across the world, including in Paris and Lyon.
