The paintings of H.R. Giger, the Swiss artist who died May 12, are not for the faint-hearted. They contain a sinister blend of eroticism and horror.
The paintings of H.R. Giger are often disturbing. Credit: Corbis/Hulton Archive
For many movie fans, Mr. Giger’s dark vision springs to mind when they think of Ridley Scott’s 1979 science-fiction classic “Alien.” The eerie look of that film — with its eggs and face-hugger and chest-burster — was largely Mr. Giger’s doing, as were those terrifying creatures that have spawned a successful franchise of sequels, prequels and spinoffs, including the Fox series “The X-Files” and the comic book “Aliens.”
Mr. Giger has been called one of the most important artists of our time by no less than Salvador Dali, who said he was “the only surrealist still alive.”
Since his death, fans have been paying tribute to his life and work on Twitter, Facebook and blogs like this one from The New York Times . He was 74.
The influence of HR Giger’s biomechanical art on modern culture is incalculable. A generation was raised on his nightmarish visions in the movie Alien. He has been cited as an influence by musicians, writers, filmmakers and artists from Marilyn Manson to Lady Gaga.
The Swiss painter and set designer, whose dark visions of man-made hellscapes spawned the term “biomechanical”, died on Monday aged 74 in a Zurich hospital after losing a short battle with cancer.
Tributes poured in from around the world for Giger, who won an Oscar for his design work on the monster in Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror classic Alien.
Giger’s surrealist paintings, which often depicted skeletal figures and deformed skulls alongside machines and industrial landscapes, influenced a generation of movie makers and rock musicians.
“I am very sorry to hear about HR Giger’s passing,” director Scott said in a statement.”His artwork was inspirational, and the world of film has lost a visionary today.”
The Swiss artist H.R. Giger (1940-2014) is best known for his design work on the eponymous Alien monster in Ridley Scott’s classic movie “Alien” (1979), and the even more iconic Ash character in “Alien³” (1992), as well as his award-winning sets for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s aborted version of “Dune”.
Giger began his artistic career in the late 1960s. His paintings are hypnotic and disturbing, depicting surreal landscapes, bizarre creatures and nightmarish visions of human sexuality and aggression. They have been featured in numerous science-fiction and fantasy films, album covers, books, video games, and even furniture designs.
Titan Books will publish a new collection of Giger’s works titled “H.R. Giger’s Biomechanics: The Art of Making Up”, that will be edited by Gary A. Smith, who has previously worked with David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and many others. The book will focus on the biomechanical style that Giger created as an integral part of his artworks, inspired by fears and fantasies he experienced during his childhood years in a very dark time of World War II.
Born in 1940, Giger is an extraordinarily gifted artist. At a very young age he was already making his own paintings, sculptures and three-dimensional models from scratch.
He first made a name for himself with his ‘Necronomicon’, which gave rise to the myth of Cthulhu, the spawn of antediluvian gods who would rise again one day.
In 1975 later he created the famous ‘Necronomicon II’, which led to his designing the sets and costumes for the very first movie based on Lovecraft’s mythos: ‘DARK STAR’ by John Carpenter.
Much of his work is inspired by Lovecraft’s cosmic entities. He has described himself as being like a medium, who is able to make contact with these entities through his work with visions and dreams. The influence of these beings on him can be seen in much of his work, as well as in that of other artists who have worked with him.
Toward the end of the 1970s he started to design furniture and lighting equipment for some major manufacturers. And it was this collaboration that brought him into contact with film director Ridley Scott on THE DUELLISTS, for which he designed all the settings and costumes. In 1979 Ridley Scott called on him again to design
