Helnwein, Manson, & Mickey Mouse...

[Nie Trink Wasser]

Helnwein: "He's an icon that everyone on the planet would know. He's become a corporate identity. You look at Manson as Mickey Mouse, and it's the American dream turned into a nightmare."

The Mickey portraits are only a small part of a larger collection of unnerving images that Manson will incorporate into his worldwide "Grotesk Burlesk" stage show.

"The corporations, the media, they tell us to be shocked by images like these," Helnwein says. "Well, it's the world that's shocking to people like myself and Manson. There's no freedom. There's censorship. You're constantly being told how you should behave. What Manson and I have in common is the fact that we don't accept this. These images represent us fighting back."

http://www.marilynmanson.com/grotesque/