PAUL STANLEY On His Paintings: 'People Aren't Buying KISS, They're Buying Art'

April 23, 2008

KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley recently spoke to The Weekly Dig about his "new" passion painting.

"You can't get anywhere until you're ready to find it," he says, explaining how he took up painting several years ago during a difficult divorce. "I did it purely as a cathartic release, and I did it from the get-go with the ground rules that I was going to concentrate more on trying to depict emotions than trying to depict any image of reality."

The only KISS content is four portraits of the band's members in costume. "A tip-of-the-hat to the fans," Stanley calls it, but one that's so out of place precisely because of how abstract the other works are. "I have to tell, you it's pretty gratifying to know that they're the least popular pieces in the gallery," he says. "People aren't buying KISS, they're buying art."

While it's strange to hear Paul Stanley talk about the affirmation of "real" art collectors, especially since KISS made a career out of being reviled by critics and worshipped by fans, they're not the only ones he cares about. "If my appearance brings in people who have never been into a gallery, I've done a double service," he says. "I think that many people don't get a chance to experience or enjoy any of the arts, because the critic's job, unfortunately, seems to be to intimidate a potential viewer by telling them that their opinion isn't valid unless it's educated. That really sells a lot of people short."

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