Christos "Chris" Achilléos (26 August 1947 – 6 December 2021) was a Cypriot-born British painter and illustrator who specialised in

fantasy art Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter—which portrays non-realistic, mystical, mythi ...

work and glamour illustration.

Biography

Born in

Famagusta Famagusta, also known by several other names, is a city located on the eastern coast of Cyprus. It is located east of the capital, Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under the maritime ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, his family emigrated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1959, where he resided. He attended the

Hornsey College of Art Hornsey College of Art, also known as HCA, founded in 1880 as the Hornsey School of Arts, was an art school in Crouch End, part of Hornsey, Middlesex, England. From 1965 it was in the London Borough of Haringey. From 1955 to 1973, when it was me ...

. His work has appeared in '' Heavy Metal'' and ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' magazines, on book covers (including series based on the

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

character, TV's ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' and ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'', as well as the

Fighting Fantasy ''Fighting Fantasy'' is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volume in the series was published in paperback by Puffin in 1982. The series distinguished itself by mixing Choo ...

gamebook series), and in collections of his own work. He has also participated in various film projects including '' Heavy Metal'' and ''

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

'' as a conceptual artist, (his iconic poster image commissioned in 1980 featuring Taarna and her birdlike steed are still featured on the DVD release) and created a proposed poster for ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

''. Achilléos created the controversial cover for

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

's 1979 album, ''

Lovehunter ''Lovehunter'' is the second studio album by British band Whitesnake, released on 21 September 1979. It was the bands first UK Top 30 album, charting at No. 29 on the UK Albums Chart. " Long Way from Home", the leading track on the album reached ...

'', which showed a naked woman straddling a giant serpent. In an interview with MelodicRock, Gary Hughes stated that Achilléos thereafter "had a policy of not working with bands". The original artwork, along with several other pieces, were stolen from him in the 1980s and sold to a private collector. However, he designed an album cover and artwork in 2003 with Gary Hughes' rock opera '' Once and Future King Part I''. His influence was also felt in the

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

video for " Babooshka", in which the character's costume resembles the cover portrait he did of the heroine of the 1978 novel ''Raven - Swordsmistress of Chaos''. Following 1990, he mostly worked in designing fantasy trading cards as well as selling prints and original works of art. Chris Achilléos died on 6 December 2021, at the age of 74.

Collections

Achilléos had published several book collections, including: * ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1978) * ''

Sirens Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Si ...

'' (1986) * ''Medusa'' (1988) * ''Amazona'' (2004)

References

External links

* * *
Fansite for Achilléos art in use
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achilleos, Chris 1947 births 2021 deaths 20th-century British painters British male painters 21st-century British painters English people of Greek Cypriot descent British illustrators British fantasy artists Cypriot emigrants to England Fighting Fantasy Games Workshop artists Pin-up artists British science fiction artists People from Famagusta 20th-century British male artists 21st-century British male artists Cypriot painters

Biography

Collections

See also

References

External links