Published: 13 November, 2007, 09:51
Edited: 13 November, 2007, 09:51
One of the world’s most controversial stars, Marilyn Manson, has landed in Moscow to display two of his loves – art and music. Known as the “antichrist superstar”, Manson is holding two concerts at Moscow’s B1 club and presenting an
Love him or hate him, Manson is a painter whose sophistication is undeniable. His works are not just art objects but forms of communication.
“I don't have to limit my expression to music now that I found that I can paint, and I never painted for other people. I would paint maybe to speak to people. A lot of my paintings are portraits of people that I meet but it's a great freedom to be able to have more than one outlet to say what you want to say,” Marilyn Manson noted.
His stage name is a fusion of two names: beauty icon Marilyn Monroe and serial killer Charles Manson.
The artist, born as Brian Hugh Warner, is in Russia for the third time. His reputation precedes him: wanted for indecent behaviour, notorious for his provocative personality, criticised for grotesque creativity.
But Manson says provocation is not his driving force. “The most human element just being a person that has feelings. People forget that I have feelings because I try so hard to put up a wall,” he said.
Manson's watercolours sell like hotcakes in the U.S. and Europe.
The cost of an original work ranges from $US 5 to over $US 50,000.
“I'm not motivated by supply and demand, that's the difference between a chef and a waiter. If you give people what they ask for, first give people what you know they want. And I give people what I know they want,” Marilyn Manson stressed.
Manson says each painting to him is like a scar or tattoo, marking a different period in his life, and being a visual diary. He takes his art seriously, and music as well.