The works of H.R. (Hans Ruedi) Giger (1940-2007, Chur) and Hajime Sorayama (b. 1947, Imabari) coexist for the first time in China together at UCCA Lab until March 24. This show will feature 45 artworks and series dating from the 1960s to the present day. The exhibition titled Approaching features Sorayama’s “Sexy Robot” series and the creature from the film Alien which won Ginger the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for its design.
About the Artists
H.R. Giger
H.R. Giger (1940-2014, Chur) developed a strong passion for all things surreal and macabre as a child. His need to express himself and share the unique aspects of his powerful imagination drew him to the visual arts. Giger’s own dreams and the brilliant imagery of such fantastic geniuses as Gustav Meyrink, Jean Cocteau, Alfred Kubin, and H.P. Lovecraft combined to form a rich soil from which the amazing imagery of his own art has come to sprout. It has since bloomed into the vast wealth of exotic women, wondrously bizarre landscapes, and frightening creatures that have captured the fascination of millions of fans worldwide.
Meticulously detailed, Giger’s paintings were usually done in large formats and worked and reworked by this maestro of the airbrush. It was Giger’s popular art book Necronomicon that caught the eye of director Ridley Scott as he was searching for the right look for a creature in his upcoming film. That creature, of course, turned out to be the Alien, and Giger’s masterful designs for the film of the same name garnered him a much-deserved Academy Award.
Giger’s fascinating biomechanical style, that brilliant synthesis of flesh and machine, has been realized not only through his remarkable paintings but also via sculptural pieces, elegantly fashioned furniture, and architectural and interior design projects. His paintings have been displayed in galleries and museums throughout the world.
Giger’s alien aesthetic, his “biomechanics,” goes beyond talent, and even art. It enters the rarified realm of the near magical, and certainly the land of genius. The ensuing art is a mere taste of the phenomenal oeuvre that this unique Swiss maestro has created.
Hajime Sorayama
Hajime Sorayama (b. 1947, Imabari) graduated in 1969 from Chubi Central Art School in Tokyo. He started his career in advertising before becoming a freelancer. He later worked with Hollywood directors and produced visuals for science fiction films. His works of female subjects, focused on the beauty of the human body and machines, especially the “Sexy Robot” series (begun in 1978), are acclaimed both inside and outside of Japan.
His incorporation of the beauty of the female body into his narrative of robots has had a major impact on the subsequent development of robotic imagery. In 1999, Sorayama won the Best Design Award from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, and the Grand Prize at the Media Arts Festival of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs for his conceptual design of the Sony AIBO robot dog. He is one of the few artists to have received accolades from the art world’s most prestigious institutions, leading high-fashion brands, adult publications, and multinational companies focused on new technologies. Permanent collections holding Sorayama’s work include MoMA (New York) and the Smithsonian (Washington, D.C).
While you’re spending a day lost in a world of art in 798, check out this scavenger hunt created by the Gleadows for Jingkids.
Images: UCCA Lab, Jingkids
