Marilyn Manson. Artist?

Ever since I can remember being an angst ridden rocker-wannabe teenager, I can remember the craziness that was Marilyn Manson. I remember first seeing him on the MTV Awards, dressed in his corsette and crazy goth makeup, and thinking "What the f&*%?". For the time, he was a very different breed of music artist. He was completely against anything that anyone was preaching at the time (both politically and religiously), and he really lead a new music/performance art revolution that even scared me a bit. I remember bringing home my first Marilyn Manson CD, 'Mechanical Animals', and immediately seeing my mother's hopes for me becoming the clean cut preppy boy fade away as quickly as her initial horror to my purchase. And most of all, I remember the vast ammounts of dark morbidity he displayed in such an interesting way in his video collection. He was my largest inspiration for art as a teenager, and it isn't until now that I truly realize this. At the time, I would have been too proud to admit that anyone could influence my ways, but today I see it for what it is. If not for Marilyn Manson, I wouldn't be nearly as sick and emotionally morbid in my artwork as I am today.

Marilyn Manson's influence and effect has since those times, died down. He no longer seeks the thrills of being outrageous and has matured (If i may say) into a more solid and progressive artist. One thing Manson has not lost, though, is his vision. Manson has always had his hand in every visual representation he has taken, and each time has impressed me by his creativity and knack for beautiful composition. This is why, it came to little surprise to me, when I had heard that Marilyn Manson was to begin showing his work in Galleries throughout the world. Initially, it would be easy to under-estimate or not take a celebrity seriously with their art endeavors. Celebrities can so easily have anything they want (Even Anna Nicole Smith had a gallery showing in a major LA gallery..In respect for the dead i shall save my comments on this).

I would like to save my entire opinion of his artwork, as my post already declares my respect for his artistic directions. Take a look for yourself and discuss what you think, I'd find it interesting to see what you all think of his work and his branching into the art world. He has a large collection of work, but here are some that stood out.