The Mastio della Cittadella hosts, until 16 February next, the richest collection of works ever exhibited in Italy by the creator of the most famous xenomorph ever to appear on screens

Ten years after the death of the great Swiss artist Hans Ruedi Giger, the National Artillery Museum of the Army - Mastio della Cittadella in Turin is hosting, until 16 February next, the exhibition "Beyond Alien: H.R. Giger", which hosts the richest collection of works by the master exhibited in Italy: over 70 original pieces including paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, design objects and videos from the Giger Museum in Switzerland.

2 Debbie II, 1981, HR Giger
Debbie II, 1981, Offset Print, 100x100, HR Giger.

A work of great visual and symbolic impact

Produced by Navigare s.r.l. in co-production with Glocal Project and ONO arte, the exhibition is curated by Giger's foremost expert, Marco Witzig, who speaks of him as ‘an artist with a contrasting personality, who has developed over the last four decades a highly personal oeuvre with great visual and symbolic impact. His universe is entirely dark, thanks to a peculiar surrealism, abject and sumptuous, mechanical and anatomical, capable of instilling terror and admiration at the same time. Yet, despite its recognition in pop culture, his work has had little echo in institutional circles and is absent from art history books. This retrospective is therefore an opportunity to question the place that should be occupied by the work of a figure who has influenced and will continue to influence contemporary culture for a long time to come.

3 ELP II (Brain Salad Surgery), 1973, HR Giger
ELP II (Brain Salad Surgery), 1973, Offset Print, 34x34, HR Giger.

Overflowing creativity

The title of the exhibition is as meaningful as it is pertinent, Beyond Alien, because Giger is known for having imagined the extraordinary - horrifying and beautiful at the same time - xenomorphs that populate the saga that began with Ridley Scott's masterpiece in 1979 (as well as for having developed, for that film, the look of the alien setting and the appearance of the ruined technological structures), but his overflowing creativity was expressed in different areas, as exhaustively documented by the Turin showcase.

6 Li I, 1974, HR Giger
Li I, 1974, Photogravure, 70x100, HR Giger.

From cinema to music

In the cinema section, for example, one can also admire the works he had executed for Alejandro Jodorowski's film Dune (a mythological project that never came to fruition and is still being discussed), while the area dedicated to music presents the fruit of Giger's collaboration with Deborah Harry, for whose solo debut the maestro created the cover of the KooKoo album, in which the singer's face (no longer blond for the occasion, but pale and raven) appeared pierced by long pins.

7 Hieroglyphen, 2.Zustand, 1978, HR Giger
Hieroglyphen, 2006, Giclée Print, 154x109, HR Giger.

A sensual and contemporary surrealism

Another theme analysed for the occasion is that of the relationship between Giger - also outstanding in his use of the airbrush technique, which he took to the highest levels - and Surrealism, a current that he redefined according to a fully contemporary sensuality, and that the exhibition explores through the works that the genius dedicated to Li, his companion who committed suicide in the first half of the 1970s.

11 HR Giger [Photo Annie Bertram]
A portrait of HR Giger (Photo Annie Bertram).

A must-see

With a poignant effect, sensual in a very peculiar way, attractive and shocking at the same time, the woman's face is broken up and dotted with a plethora of small skulls, eggs, bones, snakes and horns, while her cerulean complexion is furrowed with blue veins framing totally glassy eyes. A must-visit for those who expect more than easy reassurance from art, Beyond Alien: H.R. Giger is realised under the patronage of the Regione Piemonte and the City of Turin, and in collaboration with the National Cinema Museum.

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