Hans Ruedi Giger
Born in 1940.
Died in 2014.
Hans Ruedi Giger (5 February 1940, Chur – 12 May 2014, Zurich) developed a body of work combining images and objects, in which airbrushing occupied a pre-eminent technical role; he also created sculptures and settings described as biomechanical, notably in public spaces in Switzerland.
From 1962 to 1965, he studied architecture and industrial design at the Zurich School of Applied Arts. He subsequently published image collections influential to his career, including Necronomicon (1975) and Necronomicon II (1985).
His work in creating visual universes was recognised by the film industry: he shared the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for the film Alien (Oscars 1980).
In addition to painting and publishing, he applied his aesthetic to multimedia and object-based projects: he contributed to the video games Dark Seed (1992) and Dark Seed 2 (1995), designed and sculpted a microphone stand for the musician Jonathan Davis (Korn), and contributed to the complete decoration of cafés and bars bearing his name in Switzerland.
His personal life passed through several documented stages: a relationship with the actress Li Tobler, who died in 1975 and whose image reappears in several paintings; a brief marriage to Mia Bonzanigo in 1979; and subsequently a life and work in Zurich alongside Carmen Maria Scheifele Giger, director of the H. R. Giger Museum.
Buried in the cemetery of Gruyères (canton of Fribourg), he has been the subject of posthumous presentations of his works, including a presentation announced at Imaginales 2023 in Épinal, while the H. R. Giger Museum remains associated with the preservation and display of his legacy.
