Yes, you read correctly. KISS bassist Gene Simmons ain’t just a pretty scary face, he is a secret visual artiste.
Simmons recently revealed he’s been practising visual arts for the past 50 years, and he’s actually pretty good.
And to prove it, the KISS bassist will debut his never-before-seen artwork in his first-ever art gallery exhibition in Las Vegas this October.
As a result of the Kiss End of the Road tour being forced to take a hiatus during the pandemic, Simmons had a chance to pull all his old works out of storage, and reignite his passion for drawing and painting.
The public has only seen very few examples of work for now.
The exhibition called Gene Simmons ArtWorks will be showing on October 14th-16th at the Venetian’s Animazing Gallery displaying a variety of Simmons’ mediums including sketches, drawings and paintings.
Simmons said in a statement that coming to the United States from Israel as a young boy and speaking no English, he fell in love with comic books.
As a way of building his English up, he would watch American television which also inspired his creativity, igniting a passion for drawing and painting.
@genesimmons please put out a book of your amazing art. You continue to amaze and inspire!
Gene Simmons to Display His Artwork at First-Ever Gallery Showing – Rolling Stone https://t.co/XlIHGYV7jI— Rick Friel (@rickfriel) August 5, 2021
Simmons refers to Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol, whom he witnessed painting while he was dating Cher in the late ’70s.
He visited Warhol’s studio and depicts him as one of his chief influences in his painted work.
“I have had no professional training; I just like to draw and paint. I don’t always know where I‘m going, and then all of a sudden, I’m on my way,” Simmons said.
“I have great respect and admiration for art and artists, and I’m excited that people like the work that has resulted from what I consider to be my lifelong hobby.”
CEO of Animazing Gallery Nicholas Leone says he always knew Simmons had many talents, but had no idea he was such an incredible artist. You and all of us too, Nicholas Leone. He continued,
“Getting to see samples of his artwork, ranging from his childhood illustrations to his current paintings, was eye-opening. There is so much variety in his works. I asked if he would like to show, and possibly even sell some of his work, he humbly said ‘why not’, and here we are.”
