Another discovery on my desktop, from who knows how long ago: a poster designed for the original album release (1985) of the Dead Kennedys Frankenchrist, a display of penises and vulvas, which of course I can’t show here — but it’s on AZBlogX, here.
From Wikipedia:
Frankenchrist is the third album released by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles.
The album is an example of the progressive, psychedelic side of Dead Kennedys’ musical personality. The spaghetti western soundtrack influence is also noticeable in the horn parts and in East Bay Ray’s atmospheric guitar work. Frankenchrist is noted for its relative lack of traditionally ‘hardcore’ material.
… The album was a subject of controversy because of a poster inserted in the original record sleeve. The poster, H. R. Giger’s Landscape #XX, or Penis Landscape, was a painting depicting rows of penises and vulvae. The band’s vocalist was brought to trial for distributing harmful matter to minors, and though the case did not result in a conviction [there was a hung jury], Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles was driven almost to bankruptcy.
The Dead Kennedys were seriously commited to humor, saitre, and offense.
On the artist: Giger had close ties to the countercultural scene as well as to the science fiction / fantasy world. From Wikipedia:
Hans Rudolf “Ruedi” Giger (… 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor and set designer. He was part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects for their design work on the film Alien. He was named to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2013.
… Giger’s most distinctive stylistic innovation was that of a representation of human bodies and machines in a cold, interconnected relationship, he described as “biomechanical”.
Giger’s sculpture Birth Machine:
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