The idea of intelligent life outside of Earth is one that has fascinated enthusiasts and artists, particularly in recent years as technology has advanced steadily. Alien art is a mix of the fantastic, the terrifying, and the possibilities that making contact with extraterrestrials would entail. Although there's no proof to back the claims, many people believe that there are signs of aliens in some form or another in nearly every era, from ancient artworks to Renaissance paintings, and beyond. For these believers, the fact that ancient cultures saw and recorded their encounters is a more definite proof of alien life than current sightings and depictions, since there would have been no other technology to explain the occurrence.
Due to the amount of similarity between ancient and prehistoric depictions of strange figures that are found in thousands of locations around the world, this theory of aliens helping to guide our early attempts at civilization might be a possibility, but until contact is made in modern times, there's little actual proof that these claims are accurate.
However strange the idea of aliens visiting Earth in ancient times might be, modern science fiction artists have embraced the idea of alternate cultures and beings unlike our own. One of the most prominent alien artists is master surrealist H.R. Giger whose work included the development of the Aliens and Predators from cinema and literary fame. In these works, Giger displays extraterrestrials as something mysterious, terrifying, and unable to be comprehended by the human mind, unlike the helpful aliens presumed in earlier forms of art.
Giger's work has spawned an entirely new way of perceiving surreal art for many fantasy artists as science fiction art attempts to draw its own ideas of alien life. These depictions vary from inhumanly beautiful figures that inspire peace to the viewer to dark, grotesque, and terrifyingly seductive variants that emerge from mankind's worst fears of the dark and unknown. However, regardless of how they're depicted, aliens have drawn increasingly more curiosity as mankind's focus turns toward the stars.
