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| HR Giger's most famous cinematic creation. |
HR Giger, the man whose distinctive artwork led to the creation of cinema's most famous Alien, has died at the age of 74. The Swiss artist suffered complications after a fall and passed away in hospital yesterday.
Giger also lent his design expertise to the Species films, which feature some of his more explicitly sexual work, and to Poltergeist II and Jodorowsky's Dune. Its influence can be seen in many more. He also directed several short documentaries related to his work.
Giger said that his passion for subversive art began when, as a schoolboy, he was told that when he sinned he was hammering the crown of thorns harder into Jesus' head. His response was to sin more, and to begin drawing the kind of images that would go on to appear on album covers for the likes of Danzig and Debbie Harry, feature in several books and eventually lead to the creation of his own museum in Gruyeres. Few artists ever achieve his level of popularity or have such a profound influence on popular culture. He once described people who like his work as either creative or crazy.
