In recent weeks, two men have been removing Invader's mosaic tile art from around walls in NYC.
The French street artist addressed it in an Instagram post on Monday:
For the past few weeks, some guys in New York have been destroying my work by trying to rip it off the walls, probably to resell it. Shame on them! Street art belongs to the street, and in my case, once ripped from the walls, it is nothing more than broken, unsigned tiles that you could find in any tile store. They will never be authenticated.Buyers should think twice of what they buy, not only are they being duped but they are also depriving other people of enjoying free art on the street.
He followed up yesterday with a photo of a theft someone took, showing two men removing a classic invader above the signage at Ralph's Famous Italian Ices on the NW corner of Avenue A and Ninth Street...
As Invader noted, the mosaics likely have little resale value. Plus, when he installed these, he reportedly used larger, thinner tiles that would chip apart upon contact with a tool.
An array of mosaics arrived in NYC and the East Village, some in collaboration with the LISA Project, in 2015. A few were immediately vandalized, though there are still several around if you know where to look.
