Swiss surrealist artist H.R. (Hans Rudolf) Giger died on Monday (12 May) in his Zurich home after sustaining injuries from a fall. Giger, aged 74, was best known for designing the monster for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Alien (1979), for which he was awarded the Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects in 1980.
‘It was Francis Bacon’s work that gave me the inspiration,’ Giger said of his Alien design. ‘[It] would come tearing out of the man’s flesh with its gaping mouth, grasping and with an explosion of teeth … it’s pure Bacon.’
