Alien Artist H.R. Giger Dies
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achewon87
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The brilliant Swiss artist H.R. Giger, most famous for the creature design in Alien, has died at the age of 74.
He died from injuries sustained after he fell down stairs at his home in Zurich.
H.R. Giger, putting the finishing touches to the life cycle.
Giger was born in 1940 in the Swiss city of Chur. The young Giger declined his father's advice to enter into the business of pharmaceutics, and chose to study architecture and industrial design instead. Giger eschewed more traditional career paths, again, in favour of artistic pursuits.
His art was uniquely strange and surreal, but also powerfully dark. Influenced by the work of Salvador Dali, H.P. Lovecraft and Ernst Fuchs, he painted nightmarish worlds, where human bodies melded with machines in the dark. He referred to this aesthetic as 'biomechanical'. His paintings frequently pushed the boundaries of acceptability, using strong sexual imagery, often in disturbing ways. During this period, he pioneered using the airbrush as an artistic medium.
His most famous work from this period was 1977's Necronomicon, which compiled several of Giger's pieces together. This is the book that found its way into the hands of Ridley Scott as he was in pre-production for Alien. Amazed by what he saw, Scott invited Giger to produce artwork, set and character designs for the film.
Giger's design work elevated what was, in many respects, perceived to be a B-movie. (He would even share the Academy Award with the special effects team for his work on the film.) The true otherness of the Xenomorph, the alien ship wrecked on LV-426, facehugger and Space Jockey endure to this very day as some of the greatest and most unique to ever grace the silver screen.
In the following years, Giger would continue to consult on the Alien films, yet his influence and involvement decreased over time. Alien: Resurrection would even forgo to credit him as the original creator of the Xenomorph. Additionally, Giger consulted on Species, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, and took a shot at designing the Batmobile for Batman: Forever (the design was never used).
Giger also briefly touched the world of video games in the early nineties with horror point-and-click adventures Dark Seed and Dark Seed II. Although he wasn't directly involved in their production, his designs provided inspiration for the 'Dark World'. His original design also serves as the inspiration for this year's Alien: Isolation.
In 1998, he opened his own museum in Gruyeres, Switzerland, which still houses many of his original paintings and sculptures. And last year, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in Seattle.
Although ostensibly grim and oppressive, Giger always had a very different view of his own work: "There is hope and a kind of beauty in there somewhere, if you look for it."
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/05/13/alien-artist-hr-giger-dies
He died from injuries sustained after he fell down stairs at his home in Zurich.
H.R. Giger, putting the finishing touches to the life cycle.
Giger was born in 1940 in the Swiss city of Chur. The young Giger declined his father's advice to enter into the business of pharmaceutics, and chose to study architecture and industrial design instead. Giger eschewed more traditional career paths, again, in favour of artistic pursuits.
His art was uniquely strange and surreal, but also powerfully dark. Influenced by the work of Salvador Dali, H.P. Lovecraft and Ernst Fuchs, he painted nightmarish worlds, where human bodies melded with machines in the dark. He referred to this aesthetic as 'biomechanical'. His paintings frequently pushed the boundaries of acceptability, using strong sexual imagery, often in disturbing ways. During this period, he pioneered using the airbrush as an artistic medium.
His most famous work from this period was 1977's Necronomicon, which compiled several of Giger's pieces together. This is the book that found its way into the hands of Ridley Scott as he was in pre-production for Alien. Amazed by what he saw, Scott invited Giger to produce artwork, set and character designs for the film.
Giger's design work elevated what was, in many respects, perceived to be a B-movie. (He would even share the Academy Award with the special effects team for his work on the film.) The true otherness of the Xenomorph, the alien ship wrecked on LV-426, facehugger and Space Jockey endure to this very day as some of the greatest and most unique to ever grace the silver screen.
In the following years, Giger would continue to consult on the Alien films, yet his influence and involvement decreased over time. Alien: Resurrection would even forgo to credit him as the original creator of the Xenomorph. Additionally, Giger consulted on Species, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, and took a shot at designing the Batmobile for Batman: Forever (the design was never used).
Giger also briefly touched the world of video games in the early nineties with horror point-and-click adventures Dark Seed and Dark Seed II. Although he wasn't directly involved in their production, his designs provided inspiration for the 'Dark World'. His original design also serves as the inspiration for this year's Alien: Isolation.
In 1998, he opened his own museum in Gruyeres, Switzerland, which still houses many of his original paintings and sculptures. And last year, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in Seattle.
Although ostensibly grim and oppressive, Giger always had a very different view of his own work: "There is hope and a kind of beauty in there somewhere, if you look for it."
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/05/13/alien-artist-hr-giger-dies
Comments
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i'm a fan of his work,posted a lot of his stuff in the art thread recently
