R.I.P. Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson, who passed away in his sleep last night.

The multi-talented 55-year-old artist was best known for his roles in Throbbing Gristle and Coil. There has been no official statement about his death as yet; we were first alerted when Christopherson's TG bandmate Chris Carter tweeted the following just before 8.30am (GMT) today: "received some very very sad news…".

40 minutes later he added, "Our dearest beautiful Sleazy left this mortal coil as he slept in peace last night.words cannot express our grief."

Cosey Fanni Tutti repeated the message via her own Twitter feed shortly after.

Christopherson, born February 27, 1955, was an acclaimed graphic designer, photographer, video artist and filmmaker as well as musician, and spent a significant portion of his career working for the influential Hipgnosis design company. He was a founding member of Throbbing Gristle, and was performing as part of the reformed group as recently as October of this year.

After TG first disbanded back in 1981, Christopherson formed Psychic TV with Genesis P.Orridge and others, but it was with Coil – at its core a duo comprising Christopherson and his partner Geoff Rushton AKA Jhon Balance – that Christopherson produced his most wide-ranging, distinctive and arguably most affecting work. After over 22 years together, Balance died following a drink-induced fall at the couple's Weston-Super-Mare home. Christopherson decided that he would not continue Coil as a solo project, and relocated to Thailand, where he had been living ever since. His principal recording and performance project at the time of his death was the Threshold HouseBoys Choir.

We'll update you when we know more. In the meantime we offer our heartfelt condolences to Peter's friends and family.