Category: Hr Giger Museum

Modern Panic X - A Decade Of Panic

26/9/2019

Rebellious, visceral, non-conformist, confrontational and revelatory.

Modern Panic comes to Truman Brewery from 8th - 17th November to celebrate its momentous tenth anniversary of surreal, controversial and provocative art.

For the past decade this annual exhibition has spearheaded and given a voice to artists whose work does not fit traditional galleries. Its ethos embodies how art should elicit a response, cause a reaction and be transformative, by challenging audiences with its disruptive energy, through a variety of mediums; including fine art, sculpture, photography, live art, film and artist talks

Modern Panic is a riotous celebration of the subversive, featuring over 70 artists exploring the human psyche through pop surrealism, dark art, magic realism and more, for these most uncertain of times.

“Art that reflects contemporary society and explores where the moral compass of the viewer lies in these volatile times” - James Elphick, Modern Panic Curator

“There is hope and a kind of beauty in there somewhere, if you look for it” - H.R. Giger, Artist

Highlights include:

H.R. Giger’s concept art developed the Alien sci-fi film franchise, with his fascinating surrealistic biomechanical creations. An otherworldly synthesis of horror and grotesque merged with flesh and machine. Brian Froud is a prolific artist exploring the fantasy realm, famed for his work as conceptual and costume designer for The Dark Crystal (film & new Netflix series). Roger Ballen’s otherworldly and surrealistic photographic works visually explore the human psyche.

Lucy Sparrow transforms familiar items from everyday life into surreal hand stitched felt-object caricatures.
Ralph Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures and for his collaboration and friendship with writer Hunter S. Thompson. Paul Toupet’s mysterious sculptures evoke a playful or disquieting vision of lost childhood. Gaston Ugalde is the "Andean Warhol" of the South American art world, presenting his collage work with coca leaf (the raw material for the manufacture of the drug cocaine).

Rising stars to look out for:

Barbora Balek is a Czech Republic artist whose powerful political sculptural work explores human identity and socio-political issues. Brontis Jodorowsky, from actor to artist, premiering deeply poetic archetypal art from the realms of the subconscious. Yuri Zupancic intimate and minute work painted with a single hair on to microchip canvases.

Liam Brandon Murray’s ‘wearable sculptures’ are exquisitely layered haute couture filled with iconographical references. Sonia Tibacov creates bizarrely beautiful weird and wonderful renaissance-era style creature portraiture. Alex Rose’s dark humour infuses his living breathing hyper-realistic sculptures.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

WHAT: Modern Panic X
WHERE: Truman Brewery, F Block S4 (2nd Floor), Ely's Yard, 15 Hanbury Street, London E1 6QR
WHEN: Sat 9th Nov - Sun 17th Nov, 11 - 7pm daily
TICKETS : £5 (+bf) | www.guerrillazoo.com/tickets
WEBSITE: www.guerrillazoo.com/modern-panic-10
RSVP: www.facebook.com/events/404661786827168

Notes : For mature audiences only, unless accompanied by a responsible adult or guardian.

See the late H.R. Giger's brilliant last sculptural works at Modern Panic V

21/10/2014

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Timothy Leary once said, "Giger, you are an alien lurking inside my body, laying your futique eggs of wonder."

Renown for his monochromatic dystopian landscapes, perverse creatures and machines fused to organic beings,
H. R. Giger is recognized as one of the world’s foremost artists of Fantastic Realism. Born in 1940 to a chemist’s family in Chur, Switzerland, he moved in 1962 to Zurich, where he studied architecture and industrial design at the School of Applied Arts. By 1964 he was producing his first artworks, mostly ink drawings and oil paintings, resulting in his first solo exhibition in 1966, followed by the publication and world-wide distribution of his first poster edition in 1969. Shortly after, he discovered the airbrush and, along with it, his own unique freehand painting style, leading to the creation of many of his most well known works, the surrealistic Biomechanical dreamscapes, which formed the cornerstone of his fame. To date, more than 20 books have been published about Giger’s art.

Giger’s most famous book, Necronomicon, published in 1977, served as the visual inspiration for director Sir Ridley Scott’s ground-breaking science-fiction thriller ALIEN. One year later, H.R. Giger created two of the most iconic pieces of film art in motion picture history. Labeled the ‘Derelict’ and ‘Space Jockey’ their originality and influence became landmarks in both the film and fine art worlds.

"Giger surely has one of the most original visions in late 20th-century art."
– Clive Barker

ALIEN was Giger's first high-profile film assignment, which earned him the 1980 Oscar for the Best Achievement in Visual Effects for his designs of the film's title character, including all the stages of its lifecycle, plus the film’s the extraterrestrial environments. Giger's other well-known film work includes his designs for Poltergeist II, Alien3 and Species, as well as the legendary unmade film, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune. His otherworldly and often grotesque art has also graced album covers for Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Debbie Harry and Danzig.

In 2012 Sir Ridley Scott returned to the ALIEN universe with Prometheus which was motivated and dependent on the ‘Derelict’ and ‘Space Jockey’ that H.R. Giger created 24 years prior.

However, despite their impact, universal admiration and the continued interest in them, HR Giger never produced scaled versions of these classic creations. When creating his designs for film, there was neither the time, nor need for Giger to sculpt them.

Then in 2010 Giger determined that the Alien Room in the HR Giger Museum in Gruyeres, Switzerland would be greatly enhanced by the sculptural presence of the ‘Space Jockey’ and the ‘Derelict’. To achieve this ambitious project Giger worked with one of his sculpting assistants, Jules Bloom, to produce his own scaled down models of the ‘Derelict’ and ‘Space Jockey’.

Returning to his original paintings, preliminary sketches and archive photographs, Giger and Jules, painstakingly recreated these iconic movie monuments, which now are part of the HR Giger Museum’s permanent collection and are on loan in this exhibition. These two sculptures are Identical in both detail and form to the preceding artworks and an enduring testament to HR Giger’s unique vision and originality.

On 12th May 2014 at the age of 74, H.R. Giger tragically passed away. Guerrilla Zoo are very honoured to be exhibiting the 'Derelict' and 'Space Jockey' at Modern Panic V. These are among the last projects that were completed by HR Giger before his untimely passing.

"A mysterious blend of erotic beauty and ferocity."
– New York Times

For more information about the show and other participating artists please visit the exhibition page.
Images courtesy of Jules Bloom

Modern Panic V curated by James Elphick

Apiary Studios, 458 Hackney Rd, London, E2 9EG

Saturday 8th - Sunday 16th November 2014
11am - 7pm daily

WEB:
www.guerrillazoo.com/modern-panic-5

RSVP:
www.facebook.com/events/509503689152410

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Modern Panic X - A Decade Of Panic

See the late H.R. Giger's brilliant last sculptural works at Modern Panic V

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