HR Giger

ldquo;At its essence, Gigerrsquo;s art digs down into our psyches and touches our very deepest primal instincts and fears. His art stands in a category of its own. The proof of this lies in the intensity of his work and imagination, which I can only compare to Hieronymus Bosch and Francis Bacon in their powers to provoke and disturb.rdquo; mdash;Ridley Scott Swiss artist HR Giger (1940ndash;2014) is most famous for his creation of the space monster in Ridley Scottrsquo;s 1979 horror sci-fi film Alien, which earned him an Oscar. In retrospect, this was just one of the most popular expressions of Gigerrsquo;s biomechanical arsenal of creatures, which consistently merged hybrids of human and machine into images of haunting power and dark psychedelia. The visions drew on demons of the past, as well as evoking mythologies for the future. Above all, they gave expression to the collective fears and fantasies of his age: fear of the atom, of pollution and wasted resources, and of a future in which our bodies depend on machines for survival. Begun shortly before the artistrsquo;s unexpected death, this SUMO-sized monograph pays homage to Gigerrsquo;s unique vision. Featuring seven fold-out spreads, it shows the complete story of Gigerrsquo;s life and art, his sculptures, film works, and iconic album covers as well as the heritage he has left us in his own artistrsquo;s museum and self-designed bar in the Swiss Alps. In an in-depth essay, Giger scholar Andreas J. Hirsch plunges into the themes of Gigerrsquo;s oeuvre and world while an extensive artist biography draws on contemporary quotes and Gigerrsquo;s own writings.