''Penis Landscape'', or ''Work 219: Landscape XX'', is a painting by

H. R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

. Created in 1973, airbrushed acrylic on paper-covered wood, it measures . It depicts a number of

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...

es entering

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

s, arranged in an alternating pattern. One is wearing a condom. It came to a greater level of attention during the trial of vocalist

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

after his band the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing p ...

featured it as a poster included with their 1985 album ''

Frankenchrist ''Frankenchrist'' is the third album by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys, released in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles. The album is an example of the progressive, psychedelic side of Dead Kennedys' musical personality. The spaghetti We ...

''. The poster was printed and inserted in the ''Frankenchrist'' album with an additional sticker on the outside shrinkwrap, warning buyers of the contents. The resulting trial for obscenity nearly drove the

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, ...

label into bankruptcy.Wishnia, Steven. "Of Punk and Pornography: Rockin' With the First Amendment". ''The Nation''. October 24, 1987. During the making of the

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

video for " (You Make Me) Rock Hard" in 1988, when the production went in for close-ups, it was found that Gene Simmons had this painting laminated on the front of his bass guitar. Despite production's call over the radio for Band-Aids, none of Gene's close-up shots that included his bass guitar were acceptable for MTV. The Band-Aids can be seen in the music video in medium shots.

References

{{20C-painting-stub 1973 paintings H. R. Giger Human penis Vagina and vulva in art