BERLIN by AP
Swiss artist H.R. Giger, who designed the creature in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic "Alien," has died at age 74 from injuries suffered in a fall, his museum said Tuesday.
Born Hans Ruedi Giger on Feb. 5, 1940, in the southeastern Swiss town of Chur, he trained as an industrial designer because his father insisted that he learn a proper trade.
His mother Melli, to whom he showed a lifelong devotion, encouraged her son's passion for art, despite his unconventional obsession with death and sex that found little appreciation in 1960s rural Switzerland. The host of one of his early exhibitions was reportedly forced to wipe the spit of disgusted neighbors off the gallery windows every morning.
A collection of his early work, "Ein Fressen fuer den Psychiater" — "A Feast for the Psychiatrist" — used mainly ink and oil, but Giger soon discovered the airbrush and pioneered his own freehand technique. He also created sculptures, preferably using metal, styorofoam and plastic.
Giger's vision of a human skull encased in a machine appeared on the cover of "Brain Salad Surgery," a 1973 album by the rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Along with his design for Debbie Harry's solo album, "Koo Koo" (1981), it featured in a 1991 Rolling Stone magazine list of the top 100 album covers of all time.
Giger went on to work as a set designer for Hollywood, contributing to "Species," ''Poltergeist II," ''Dune," and most famously "Alien," for which he received a 1979 Academy Award for special effects. Frequently frustrated by the Hollywood production process, Giger eventually disowned much of the work that was attributed to him on screen.
The image of a brooding, mysterious artist was nurtured by Giger working only at night, keeping his curtains permanently drawn and dressing mainly in black — a habit he acquired while working as a draftsman because it made Indian ink stains stand out less on his clothes.
While his work was commercially successful, critics derided it as morbid kitsch. His designs were exhibited more frequently in "Alien" theme bars, short-lived Giger museums and at tattoo conventions than in established art galleries.
In 1998, Giger acquired the Chateau St. Germain in Gruyeres and established the H.R. Giger Museum.
Giger was pleased that his idea of machines with human skin became a popular motif in body art.
"The greatest compliment is when people get tattooed with my work, whether it's done well or not," he told Seconds magazine in 1994. "To wear something like that your whole life is the largest compliment someone can pay to you as an artist."
Details on survivors and funeral plans were not immediately available.
Швейцарский художник Ганс Рудольф Гигер, известный всему миру как создатель неповторимого жуткого стиля вселенной «Чужих», включая и образы самих инопланетных тварей, умер на 74 году жизни от травм, полученных при падении с лестницы, сообщает телерадиокомпания Швейцарии.
Cлава пришла к Гигеру в 1977 году, после выхода сборника постеров «Некрономикон», который привлек внимание английского режиссера Ридли Скотта. Скотт пригласил художника для работы над концептом существ и дизайном своего фильма «Чужой», а также для создания образа ксеноморфа. Впоследствии работа над этим фильмом принесла Гигеру «Оскар» за «Лучшие визуальные эффекты» (1980 г.). Рисунки его монстра послужили эскизами и для последующих трех фильмов о Чужих, а также дилогии «Чужой против Хищника».
Swiss artist H.R. Giger, who designed the creature in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic "Alien," has died at age 74 from injuries suffered in a fall, his museum said Tuesday.
Giger. Guardian Angel
Giger. Alien statue 2
Giger's works, often showing macabre scenes of humans and machines fused into hellish hybrids, influenced a generation of movie directors and inspired an enduring fashion for "biomechanical" tattoos.
Giger. Hexentanz
Giger. Landscape XXX
Born Hans Ruedi Giger on Feb. 5, 1940, in the southeastern Swiss town of Chur, he trained as an industrial designer because his father insisted that he learn a proper trade.
His mother Melli, to whom he showed a lifelong devotion, encouraged her son's passion for art, despite his unconventional obsession with death and sex that found little appreciation in 1960s rural Switzerland. The host of one of his early exhibitions was reportedly forced to wipe the spit of disgusted neighbors off the gallery windows every morning.
Giger. Sil sculpture zoom
Giger. Alien II Chestbusters
Giger. Landscape XX
A collection of his early work, "Ein Fressen fuer den Psychiater" — "A Feast for the Psychiatrist" — used mainly ink and oil, but Giger soon discovered the airbrush and pioneered his own freehand technique. He also created sculptures, preferably using metal, styorofoam and plastic.
Giger. Mask II No WA65
Giger. Nubian
Giger. Sculpture 1 and 2
Giger went on to work as a set designer for Hollywood, contributing to "Species," ''Poltergeist II," ''Dune," and most famously "Alien," for which he received a 1979 Academy Award for special effects. Frequently frustrated by the Hollywood production process, Giger eventually disowned much of the work that was attributed to him on screen.
The image of a brooding, mysterious artist was nurtured by Giger working only at night, keeping his curtains permanently drawn and dressing mainly in black — a habit he acquired while working as a draftsman because it made Indian ink stains stand out less on his clothes.
Giger. No title No21a
While his work was commercially successful, critics derided it as morbid kitsch. His designs were exhibited more frequently in "Alien" theme bars, short-lived Giger museums and at tattoo conventions than in established art galleries.
In 1998, Giger acquired the Chateau St. Germain in Gruyeres and established the H.R. Giger Museum.
Giger. Unnamed 1961
Giger was pleased that his idea of machines with human skin became a popular motif in body art.
"The greatest compliment is when people get tattooed with my work, whether it's done well or not," he told Seconds magazine in 1994. "To wear something like that your whole life is the largest compliment someone can pay to you as an artist."
Details on survivors and funeral plans were not immediately available.
Giger. Passage XIII
Cлава пришла к Гигеру в 1977 году, после выхода сборника постеров «Некрономикон», который привлек внимание английского режиссера Ридли Скотта. Скотт пригласил художника для работы над концептом существ и дизайном своего фильма «Чужой», а также для создания образа ксеноморфа. Впоследствии работа над этим фильмом принесла Гигеру «Оскар» за «Лучшие визуальные эффекты» (1980 г.). Рисунки его монстра послужили эскизами и для последующих трех фильмов о Чужих, а также дилогии «Чужой против Хищника».
Giger. Pumpexcursion
Гигер также известен как оформитель обложек для альбомов музыкальных групп и исполнителей. Среди его работ обложки для альбома «Brain Salad Surgery» британской рок-группы Emerson, Lake & Palmer, альбома «Attahk» французской рок-группы Magma, альбома «Koo Koo» американской певицы Деборы Харри и многих других. Кроме того, Гигер является создателем концертной микрофонной стойки для вокалиста группы Korn Джонатана Дэвиса.
В 1998 году Гигер приобрел шато Сен-Жермен в Грюйере, которое стало действующим музеем художника и хранилищем его работ. В последние годы Гигер жил и работал в Цюрихе.
Критики и искусствоведы относят работы Гигера к жанру фантастического реализма. Иногда упоминаются и другие стили – некроготика, биомеханика, эротомеханика. При создании своих работ Гигер использовал аэрограф.
Giger. Shoe-Work Landscape
