Here are a few photos from Paul's art show last night in Chestnut Hill.
Tonight, Paul will be back at the Chestnut Hill Wentworth Gallery for his second show.
Wentworth Gallery – Mall at Chestnut Hill
199 Boylston St # 44
Chestnut Hill, MA
*VIP Reception – 5 - 6 p.m. (Call for details)
RSVP: 617-630-9134 or 800-732-6140
Legendary Rocker Paul Stanley Parties in Lexington
Rock and Roll legend Paul Stanley (KISS) apparently is a big fan of the FOX25 Morning News and decided to drop by Lexington for the first Zip Trip of the year. Stanley did decide to bring some art with him that will be on display at the Wentworth Gallery.
CLICK HERE to visit FOX 25's web site and watch the Paul interview!
Paul Stanley says he's never played Guitar Hero, so he doesn't know if it's harder to perform "Strutter" on a plastic guitar. And, really, why would he? He's busy doing things. Like deafening thousands of people at once while performing with Kiss. Or, listening to my inane questions. Or, working at his new passion—wait for it—painting.
"You can't get anywhere until you're ready to find it," he says on the phone, 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."
For 35 years, Paul Stanley has been known as the star- spangled, face-painted frontman of rock megastars KISS. In his downtime, however, Stanley expresses his creativity through fine art, and the rocker presents an exhibition of his original paintings April 25 & 26 at the Wentworth Gallery in Chestnut Hill. Visit www.wentworthgallery.com for more information.
Q: What led you to try your hand at painting?
A: Well, as a teen I attended the High School of Art and Music in New York but I wasn’t painting at that time. About eight years ago, I was going through a hard divorce, and a friend suggested I paint as a type of therapy. I really connected with my emotions and wanted to keep doing it.
Q: How would you describe your artistic style?
A: It’s very personal, stream-of-consciousness, fly by the seat of my pants stuff. I compare it to going on a trip without a map. I like abstract art because it appeals to people on an emotional rather than analytical level.
Q: Are there more KISS tours or a new album on the horizon?
A: We just did some massive shows in Australia and New Zealand, and in three weeks we’re heading to Europe. So, KISS is alive and ready to blind you, deafen you and pummel you into submission (laughs). A new album? We’re asked about it, but we know fans don’t really want new material. I could write the next “Let It Be” and people would say, “That’s great. Play ‘Love Gun.’” And we’re happy to do that.
Q: Why hasn’t KISS been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
A: Because the people who own it are part of what I call the “East Coast Music Mafia,” and their opinions don’t really reflect rock fans’ in general. Unfortunately, it’s a sham with a very official-sounding name.
Q: Anything you’re looking forward to doing while you’re in Boston?
A: My sister lived in the North End for a time, and you can bet I’ll be heading there for some real Italian soul food.
Here's an interview Paul did with Toucher & Rich on Boston's WBCN Radio station. The interview promotes this weekend's Art Shows at the Chestnut Hill Wentworth Gallery.
Here's a wonderful poem by Darren Dewis, inspired by Paul's painting "SCREAM".
"SCREAM"
See my heart shaped tongue
inside a mouth so wide
a darkness rich in black
a perfect place to hide
See my heart shaped tongue
forever cracked in two
one side speaks to me
while the other screams at you
won't slam my head against a wall
won't pound my fists of flesh
let the open skies
rain down a fate unseen
let my open eyes be white
to what has always been
let the purple haze
that's around me come to glow
once a shade of violet
now a darkness never known
won't slam my head against a wall
won't pound my fists of flesh
won't listen to a word I say
coz my screams just say it best
See my heart shaped tongue
once so rich in rhyme
now lost inside a darkness
where silence comes in time
won't slam my head against a wall
won't pound my fists of flesh
won't listen to a word I say
coz my screams just say it best
with a scream no more or less
Wentworth Gallery, one of the nation’s leading fine art retailers, is proud to present an art exhibition by artist and rock icon Paul Stanley. The KISS front man will present his work at two special appearances at the Wentworth Gallery in the Mall at Chestnut Hill on Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26.
His appearance will be open to the public and free of charge.
Paul Stanley’s Wentworth Gallery Appearances
Friday – April 25, 2008 7-9 PM
Saturday – April 26, 2008 6-9 PM
Wentworth Gallery
Wentworth Gallery – Mall at Chestnut Hill
199 Boylston St # 44
Chestnut Hill, MA
*VIP Reception – 5 - 6 p.m. (Call for details)
RSVP: 617-630-9134 or 800-732-6140
Another great turnout this weekend for Paul's Art Shows in Charlotte! Art lovers and fans of all ages stopped by to view Paul's art in person. We will be announcing several more shows in the near future, and don't forget Paul will be at the Wentworth Gallery in Chestnut Hill, MA on April 25 and 26.
Many people know Paul Stanley the musician. He's the "Starchild" who's been the frontman of the band KISS for 35 years. Most people aren't aware, however, that he's also a painter. Not only the kind of painter who sits at home and paints as a creative outlet, but the kind of painter who sold roughly $2 million worth of work in 2007.
"Interestingly, the galleries will tell you there are people who come in and are drawn to certain pieces without ever even knowing it's me; that's secondary," Stanley says from his California home. "I will also say in the same breath that no doubt my success and my fame gets my foot in the door. But you can still slam the door on my foot. Nobody's going to spend a good sum of money on art because they like it when I sing 'Rock And Roll All Night.' If they do, then they'd be better spending their money elsewhere."
Stanley, who attended the prestigious Manhattan School for Music and Art, was always focused on music. He says he is one of the few to fail art at the school and didn't even pick up a paint brush until 2000. While going through a divorce, a friend of his suggested that he paint to release emotion. "I went to an art supply store and bought canvases and paints and palate knives and brushes and all kinds of things that I was clueless to use and went home and started painting," he says. "What never crossed my mind was to show any of my work. It was a very solitary and very intimate experience. It was really about trying to purge emotions."
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Wentworth Gallery, one of the nation’s leading fine art retailers, is proud to present an art exhibition by artist and rock icon Paul Stanley. The KISS front man will present his work at two special appearances at the Wentworth Gallery in the South Park Mall in Charlotte on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12.
His appearance will be open to the public and free of charge.
Paul Stanley’s Wentworth Gallery Appearances:
Friday - April 11, 2008 - 6-9 PM
Saturday – April 12, 2008 6-9 PM
Wentworth Gallery
South Park Mall
4400 Sharon Road
Charlotte, NC
VIP Reception – 5 -6 PM - Please call for details
RSVP: 704-365-2733 or 800-732-6140
words by Devoe Yates, photo by Robert Todd Williamson
As rock legends KISS ready to mark their 35th anniversary with tours in Australia and Europe, their frontman, the Star Child Paul Stanley, marks the beginning of a brand new journey as a highly touted painter in the world-wide art scene. Art aficionados and KISS fans alike have descended upon galleries to study these surprising introspective offerings from the man who boldly beckons us to "Rock N' Roll All Night and Party Every Day."
As I enter Paul Stanley's palatial estate, he opens tiny gates from room to room that were installed that very morning to keep his 17-month-old son Collin from getting into undue trouble. As we journey through the house and out to his guest house / art studio in the backyard, the walls are noticeably void of any KISS memorabilia. Paul smiles, "I know what I've done; I don't need a wall of gold records to remind me." And this seems true. Paul has settled into a very tranquil and happy existence with his wife and new son. But it would seem that painting has also brought Paul peace of mind of late. "Anytime you find a means of expression it's going to make you more aware of who you are and put you more at peace, it's kind of like releasing the pressure on a water pipe."
As Paul shows off several easels of paintings in progress, he offers up a part of his ritual. "I come in here and crank up some music and make a mess. Most of the time I listen to the soul station on XM. I can sing those songs backwards and forwards: Delfonics, Joe Tex, Al Green…The Four Tops."
