Legendary Kiss icon to display artworks
The musician and businessman has revealed a 50-year passion and will display his first collection in Las Vegas in October.
HE’S done it all – music, television, business, writing, public speaking and more. And we’ve just learned that Kiss bassist Gene Simmons is also an artist.
The Israeli-born rock music icon has revealed a 50-year passion for art and will display his first collection in Las Vegas in October.
“Moving to the United States from Israel as a young boy, I didn’t speak English. I fell in love with comics and American television, and they not only helped me learn the language but inspired creativity and a passion for drawing and painting,” the man born Chaim Witz said in a statement.
“I started doodling and drawing when I was eight years of age and as a teenager, I had hundreds of illustrations [under the name Gene Klein] published in fanzines created by and for sci-fi and comic book enthusiasts.”
With Kiss’ “End of the Road” tour on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, Simmons said “I had a chance to pull decades of my art out of storage and it reignited my passion for drawing and painting again”.
Simmons named Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol as artistic influences.
“I have had no professional training; I just like to draw and paint,” he 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.”
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