Painting Asks if Marilyn Manson Was to Blame for Columbine

Peter Reynosa of San Francisco has done an acrylic painting in black and white that deals with two controversial subjects: Columbine and Marilyn Manson. Both topics are controversial separately, but combined into a painting even more controversy arises. His painting is called “Portrait of Marilyn Manson at Columbine.” It is a strange painting, one that uses a lot of dark symbolism. In the painting we a swastika, an upside down cross, and an inverted pentagram above a crowd of people. And the group of people, who we see only as silhouettes,  look like a crowd at a rock concert and also look like a crowd of people being massacred.

When asked what it means, Reynsoa said: “Well, the symbols mainly–but not completely–represent Marilyn Manson. And if you think Marilyn Manson was somehow connected to this event, than that is a crowd of people being massacred. Yet, if you think he is not connected to this event, then it is simply a crowd of people attending one of his concerts.”

And why these three symbols? “I used a swastika for three reasons,” Reynosa explained. “Columbine occurred on April 20, which is Adolf Hitler’s birthday. Some people believe that was the reason for this event occurring on this particular date. And Marilyn Manson is into Nazi symbolism. And yet, there is hardly any proof he is a believier in Nazism. And let us not forget his chosen last name came from a person (Charles Manson) who has a swastika on his forehead. And I used an upside down cross to represent his hatred of traditional conservative Christianity. And while an inverted Latin cross can be a Cross of St. Peter and not anti-Christian, here it is a cross that is an insult to Christianity because Marilyn Manson very much hates Christianity, well, the very conservative type of Christianity at least. And I used an inverted pentagram as a symbol for Satanism. And while Marilyn Manson is an honorary priest of the Church of Satan, he is definitely not a Satanist. Yet, like Anton LaVey, he loves using Satanic symbols.”

And while Reynosa insists the painting is neither a glorification nor condemnation of Marilyn Manson, he is not sure Marilyn Manson will see it this way. “This is a sore area for him. But he has done some paintings himself about Columbine. But I am curious what his response will be to this painting.”

Marilyn Manson is set to play in the city of San Francisco on Tuesday, February 19th. Peter Reynosa is a poet and a painter who lives in San Francisco. He is 48 years old.