H.R. Giger, famed creator of the design for Ridley Scott’s influential Alien sci-fi horror franchise, died Monday after suffering injuries in a fall, his museum said Tuesday. He was 74.
The iconic Xenomorph alien design originated from one of the Swiss surrealist painter and sculptor’s own lithographs, titled Necronom IV. The designs he produced for the 1979 sci-fi classic Alien netted him an Oscar as part of the team award for Best Visual Effects. He went on to contribute designs to Aliens, Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection and Prometheus; as well as conceptual work on Species, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, and Tokyo: The Last War. He came to Scott’s attention in the 1970s from work he did on Alejandro Jodorowsky’s version of Dune, which was later directed by David Lynch.
He also designed work that appeared on album covers including the Brain Salad Surgery cover for Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Koo Koo for Debbie Harry. He also directed a number of films in the 1960s and 70s: Swiss Made, Tagtraum, Giger's Necronomicon, and Giger's Alien. Two video games based on his artwork, Dark Seed and Dark Seed II, were published by Cyberdreams in the 1990s. He purchased a medieval castle in Gruyeres, Switzerland, and opened his own museum there in 1998.
Hans Ruedi Giger’s work often focused on dark, atmospheric, pseudo-sexual human and machine hybrids, and his biomechanical style has influenced a generation of sci-fi and horror artists. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2013.
Famous Painter, 'Alien' Artist
Posted by ICv2 on May 13, 2014 @ 3:48 pm CT
MORE COMICS
From Marvel Comics
April 24, 2024
On sale May 29, Wolverine #50 celebrates both 50 years of Wolverine and 50 issues of Benjamin Percy's acclaimed run.
With New 'Kill Shakespeare'
April 24, 2024
Gemstone Publishing is entering the original graphic novel market for the first time with a publishing program around the Kill Shakespeare property.
MORE NEWS
'Sound Loaders'
April 24, 2024
Bandai will release One Piece TCG Sound Loaders : card loaders for One Piece TCG with background music and sound effects from the One Piece anime.
Not Even Direct Sales from GW Webstore
April 24, 2024
Games Workshop’s blind pack Warhammer Heroes Series 4 will be available in select Target stores and on the Target website, but not available from Games Workshop’s own webstore.