ALIEN Designer H.R. Giger Dead at 74

Cult artist H.R. Giger was a big deal right after ALIEN was released in 1979. All of my friends ran out and bought his books Necronomicon and Giger’s Alien. His “biomechanical” designs had the distinction of being some of the most disturbing art to be embraced by the public up until that time. The world of Giger was the world of nightmares, with sexual symbolism, decay, and perversions abounding. But there was also great beauty behind it all, in the metallic shine of his futuristic nymphs or the strange landscapes of endless babies’ faces which make us recognize the brilliant strangeness in his vision.

Hans Rudolf “Ruedi” Giger was a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor and set designer. He was part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for Special Effects for their design for ALIEN. He only worked on a couple of films after that, including POLTERGEIST 2 and SPECIES. He designed many album covers and video games and collections of his work inspired young artists for the next several decades. Gigier died yesterday at age 74 from injuries suffered in a fall.

From ABC News:

The renowned Swiss artist H.R. Giger has died at the age of 74, as a result of injuries sustained in a fall. Giger, who passed away in a Zurich hospital, was most famous for the alien monster he created for the movie of the same name. The terrifying creature and sets he created for Ridley Scott’s film earned him an Oscar for special effects in 1980. In the art world, Giger is appreciated for his wide body of work in the fantastic realism and surrealistic genres.
  His talent for scaring movie audiences was repeated in Poltergeist 2 (1986), Alien 3 (1992) and Species (1995). Computer game fans were able to enjoy his work in Dark Seed in 1995….

Read the rest HERE:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/alien-artist-hr-giger-dies-74-23691669