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.

Exhibition of Manson's watercolours in Moscow

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.