Two well known genre artists, both born in 1940, died withing days of one another. The first is Patrick Woodroffe, who painted covers for sci-fi and fantasy novels as well as the covers for albums. He did several covers for books by Frank Herbert and Michael Moorcock. If you read sci-fi in the 1960s and 1970s, you definitely know his work.
The second artist, HR Giger, is several levels of fame higher. He created a genre known as biomechanoids, machines combined with living beings in ways no one had ever imagined before and which, once seen, are impossible to unsee. His most famous work is the design of the monster in
Alien, which was like nothing anyone had envisioned before it but became such an influence to those who came after it almost feels like a cliche now. He also created album covers, most notably the Dead Kennedy's
Frankenchrist, a piece entitled
Penis Landscape, which lead to a trial for obscenity. Among his other well known works are
Necromicon and the cover to Emerson, Lake and Palmer's
Brain Salad Surgery. Some of most intriguing work did not see the light of day, including his designs for Alejandro Jodorowsky's never made version of Frank Herbert's
Dune.
Best wishes to the family and friends of Partick Woodroffe and HR Giger, from a fan. May they never be forgotten.
Giger looks EXACTLY like you would imagine. Intense, like a Repo Man.
ReplyDeleteBTW, have you ever seen the drawings of Lebbeus Woods? An architect who worked in similar fantastical world as Giger, although more focused on the buildings and less biological: http://www.drawingcenter.org/en/drawingcenter/5/exhibitions/6/current/588/lebbeus-woods/
His most significant relationship to the subject of this blog is the copyright infringement case he brought against Terry Gilliam for 12 Monkeys. It was, IMHZO, a pretty blatant ripoff and a rare occasion when an architect got paid.
http://lifewithoutbuildings.net/2006/09/lebbeus-woods-12-monkeys.html