Multi-talented artist Marilyn Manson, legendary for the cult status of his
music career and persona, has simultaneously been creating a large and
remarkable body of painting over the past two decades that will be revealed for
the first time in the U.S. this December during Art Basel Miami.
Just as Manson's lyrics are provocative, driving the
expressive form of music to its limits, the artist's paintings, though
aesthetically pleasing, play with the grotesque and confront the viewer with
the dark side of the American Dream – its obsessions and pitfalls. This
exhibition of more than twenty paintings is presented by the Cologne-based
Galerie Brigitte Schenk in cooperation with 101 Exhibit, a dynamic new art
space in Miami's design district. The show will remain on view through February
2009.
Still, had Manson not been a celebrated musician
his career as an artist would probably have had little echo on the contemporary
art scene long perverted by the well fabricated aura of Andy Warhol and the
intense speculation on his name and on many others who followed in his footpath.
Celebrity was alas one of the factors that blurred common-sense in this
particular domain, which has now become much fragile following the world
financial crisis.
Trismegistus features Manson's paintings from the past eight years.
Looking at the works, one enters the artist's deep, haunted world and his
existential exploration of the human condition. The artist focuses on the more
unpleasant and controversial sides of life – real and fictional – as conveyed
through both subject matter and distorted notions of beauty. Parallels to the
style and to the "sadomasochistic eroticism" of the German
Expressionist painter Egon Schiele can hardly be overlooked, as David Galloway
remarked in an article entitled "Gothic Revival" (ARTnews,
2007). He continued, "Manson's subjects are consistent with his bizarre
and morbid image: disease, mutilation, addiction, homicide."
The titles sometimes lighten up the darker, more sensational events that Manson
evokes, including: study of the murderess Elizabeth Short, celebrated in the
media as the Black Dahlia, bears the title "Elizabeth Short as Snow White,
You're sure you will be comfortable?", "Jon Benet Ramsey as Sleeping
Beauty II", and "Übermensch" painted in honor of Christopher
Reeve. Several others allude to Manson's own angst, as in "Green Whore of
Love (series I)," "I've got my arm around no one," and "The
man who eats his fingers" (which the artist specifically notes was
produced with caffeine-free chamomile tea).
"Marilyn Manson is a living work of art and an anti-popstar. His fine
art is an extension of his complex personality and expansive creativity – from
his performance art on stage, to his song writing, to his intimate and revealing
paintings," stated his gallerist Brigitte Schenk. "After
tremendous popular and critical response to his recent show in Cologne, where
over 1,000 people attended the opening, Manson's works are now in collections
worldwide. We're thrilled to introduce his art to U.S. audiences for the first
time during Art Basel Miami."
The artist known as Marilyn Manson took his pseudonym from the names Marilyn
Monroe and Charles Manson – figures whom he sees as reflecting the ultimate and
most disturbing dualism of American culture. From the beginning of his career
as a musician, Manson has also been active as a painter. The oldest of his
surviving pieces date back to 1995. After a brief "grey period" Manson
began painting watercolors in 1999. His manic creativity has been documented in
a number of exhibitions. In 2002, he had a show in Los Angeles and two years
later presented his "Trismegistus" piece – a large three-headed
Christ – in Paris and in Berlin. In 2006 Manson opened a temporary art gallery
in Los Angeles, and in April 2007, recent works were exhibited at Galerie
Brigitte Schenk, Cologne.
Starting her career in the German branch of the Dia Art Foundation, Brigitte
Schenk worked with Joseph Beuys and A.R. Penck, and as a private curator until
she launched her own art gallery in Cologne 14 years ago. The gallery
specializes in modern and contemporary art of all disciplines.
Multi-talented artist Marilyn Manson, legendary for the cult status of his
music career and persona, has simultaneously been creating a large and
remarkable body of painting over the past two decades that will be revealed for
the first time in the U.S. this December during Art Basel Miami.
Just as Manson's lyrics are provocative, driving the
expressive form of music to its limits, the artist's paintings, though
aesthetically pleasing, play with the grotesque and confront the viewer with
the dark side of the American Dream – its obsessions and pitfalls. This
exhibition of more than twenty paintings is presented by the Cologne-based
Galerie Brigitte Schenk in cooperation with 101 Exhibit, a dynamic new art
space in Miami's design district. The show will remain on view through February
2009.
Still, had Manson not been a celebrated musician
his career as an artist would probably have had little echo on the contemporary
art scene long perverted by the well fabricated aura of Andy Warhol and the
intense speculation on his name and on many others who followed in his footpath.
Celebrity was alas one of the factors that blurred common-sense in this
particular domain, which has now become much fragile following the world
financial crisis.
Trismegistus features Manson's paintings from the past eight years.
Looking at the works, one enters the artist's deep, haunted world and his
existential exploration of the human condition. The artist focuses on the more
unpleasant and controversial sides of life – real and fictional – as conveyed
through both subject matter and distorted notions of beauty. Parallels to the
style and to the "sadomasochistic eroticism" of the German
Expressionist painter Egon Schiele can hardly be overlooked, as David Galloway
remarked in an article entitled "Gothic Revival" (ARTnews,
2007). He continued, "Manson's subjects are consistent with his bizarre
and morbid image: disease, mutilation, addiction, homicide."
The titles sometimes lighten up the darker, more sensational events that Manson
evokes, including: study of the murderess Elizabeth Short, celebrated in the
media as the Black Dahlia, bears the title "Elizabeth Short as Snow White,
You're sure you will be comfortable?", "Jon Benet Ramsey as Sleeping
Beauty II", and "Übermensch" painted in honor of Christopher
Reeve. Several others allude to Manson's own angst, as in "Green Whore of
Love (series I)," "I've got my arm around no one," and "The
man who eats his fingers" (which the artist specifically notes was
produced with caffeine-free chamomile tea).
"Marilyn Manson is a living work of art and an anti-popstar. His fine
art is an extension of his complex personality and expansive creativity – from
his performance art on stage, to his song writing, to his intimate and revealing
paintings," stated his gallerist Brigitte Schenk. "After
tremendous popular and critical response to his recent show in Cologne, where
over 1,000 people attended the opening, Manson's works are now in collections
worldwide. We're thrilled to introduce his art to U.S. audiences for the first
time during Art Basel Miami."
The artist known as Marilyn Manson took his pseudonym from the names Marilyn
Monroe and Charles Manson – figures whom he sees as reflecting the ultimate and
most disturbing dualism of American culture. From the beginning of his career
as a musician, Manson has also been active as a painter. The oldest of his
surviving pieces date back to 1995. After a brief "grey period" Manson
began painting watercolors in 1999. His manic creativity has been documented in
a number of exhibitions. In 2002, he had a show in Los Angeles and two years
later presented his "Trismegistus" piece – a large three-headed
Christ – in Paris and in Berlin. In 2006 Manson opened a temporary art gallery
in Los Angeles, and in April 2007, recent works were exhibited at Galerie
Brigitte Schenk, Cologne.
Starting her career in the German branch of the Dia Art Foundation, Brigitte
Schenk worked with Joseph Beuys and A.R. Penck, and as a private curator until
she launched her own art gallery in Cologne 14 years ago. The gallery
specializes in modern and contemporary art of all disciplines.
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