Dave Cohen interview with Paul Stanley 6/15/09
KISS' Paul Stanley Exhibits His Diverse Artistic Talents
With KISS having recently come off of a huge tour across South America,Paul Stanley continues to keep busy. About ten years ago, coming out of
a divorce, a friend suggested he try painting as a cathartic way of
helping to express his emotions. He went and purchased brushes and
canvasses and he’s been at it ever since. Stanley has never been one
to stand on the sideline. In the past he’s played the lead in the
Phantom of the Opera in Toronto, toured on his own in support of his
solo release “Live to Win,” and now, along with continuing to show
his art work at Wentworth Galleries, is also in the studio producing the
forthcoming KISS album. He took time to speak with Dave Cohen.
DC: Paul, there’s no question that between touring with KISS and
producing the new album, your growing family, your art work, you’ve
got a lot going on.
PS: It’s been busy. Four months ago I had a little baby girl. Other
than that we just finished a stadium tour of South America playing to
anywhere from forty to sixty thousand people a night. Before that we did
our biggest, most successful tour of Europe playing seven weeks, thirty
shows to over four hundred thousand people. Then, I’ve got my art
shows, which are normally once a month in different cities and I’m
about a week from completing the first KISS album in eleven years which
should be out in September. Other than that I’m taking it easy!
DC: With regards to your art work, having begun to paint as a way to
express emotions from the divorce ten years ago, with that now well
behind you, has your approach changed with so many positive things going
on in your life?
PS: Any creative outlet will come from whatever inspiration or
desperation happens to be going on. Certainly as life evolves you
hopefully draw from other experiences. My life, it couldn’t be a
better story if I wrote it myself so there’s no shortage of
inspiration. I tell people; “If you’re not inspired everyday when
you wake up then you should either go back to sleep or change your
life.”
DC: Taking that one step further, I was noticing that you titled some
of your early paintings relevant to where you were emotionally at that
time (Starting Over, Scream, Alone)and how that has changed as time has
moved along (Celebration, What Lies Ahead, The Angel). You kind of see
where I’m going with this question.
PS: Oh sure. No doubt that there are bound to be some gloomy days
although I haven’t experienced them in quite a while. I seem to find
myself painting from a different vantage point. There are paintings like
What Lies Ahead, The Mirrors Image, things that are reflective of where
I am today and where I see me headed. The great thing about it, I think
the other pieces, is that other people relate to it. It’s not
something that I have a monopoly on or something that is solely mine.
I’ve always found that the beauty of abstract art in particular is
that it really illicit its own unique response in each person and
that’s what makes it valid. That’s why I tend to tell people,
“I can tell you what a painting means to me but ultimately it’s
much more important what it means to you.”
DC: I’ve always liked what you’ve said with regards to the
so-called art critics and listening other people’s opinions when it comes to art. If you yourself like something, then that’s all that
matters. Other opinions are not necessary.
PS: I think that’s all a part of snobbery and elitist propaganda, which is designed to intimidate you in to needing someone else to tell
you what’s good and bad. The problem with that is you’re basing your opinion on what somebody else decides is credible, not credible or
worthwhile, not worthwhile, you see where I’m going. If you love steak and somebody else is a vegetarian what good is either opinion to the
other? You just respect them as individual and as separatehave talked to me about the “Art World.” I don’t really want to be
a part of the art world. Anything that cuts itself off and identifies itself as separate is the antithesis of what I want to be. When I did
Phantom of the Opera hopefully I brought people into the theater, besides the regular theater goers, I hope I brought people in who, up
until that point, may have been intimidated into thinking that theater is a white glove affair for snooty people and theater didn’t begin
like that. Theater was something that was done in public squares so if my art or my theater or anything else is an introduction for somebody to
how much great creativity there is in this world that’s out there to experience then I’m doing a great service.
DC: Two of the interesting pieces that you’ve painted were your updates to the Statue of Liberty and the Mona Lisa. Those are pretty
cool.
PS: Yea, I like those a lot. They mean a lot to me, particularly the Statue of Liberty, having grown up in New York and my mother having come
here from Germany and my grandparents coming from Poland. The idea of people pulling into the harbor in New York with these great dreams of
anything being possible and working towards a success they hadn’t known in their previous countries is something that makes America so
unique. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of it and my success is a symbol of it. I am a product of the American dream. This is a great
country that makes it possible for anybody who works hard to succeed. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, it just means you can judge how much
something means to you by how hard you’re willing to work to acquire it and America gives you that opportunity. The Mona Lisa, on the other
hand, is something that we’ve all seen and it is iconic. I just remember seeing it when they brought it to the states and I was a little
boy and I was surprised how small it was and secondly, it’s beautiful in its original form. I just thought, how about we give her an extreme
make over and pull her kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century.
DC: You’ve also begun to work with sculpture a little. Tell me about your interest in that?
PS: I’ve always wanted to do large metal sculpture and really my introduction into it are the pieces that I’ve been doing, which are
fairly organic in that they’re over-spill from casts of sculptures, their over-spill of bronze that I’ll find and then have welded
together and then have buffed and patina as I see fit. That will lead next to some other sculptures but for me, the door is wide open. I am a
person who tries to define myself by the challenges that I take on and I’m constantly excited and constantly inspired.
DC: So then, along with painting and sculpture, is there another art form that has drawn your interest to explore at some point?
PS: You know, I can never say “never”. There’s such a vast array out there of what falls into the terminology or category of art. Some of
it I don’t understand and some of it I do. I’m no different than anybody else, I have my personal likes and dislikes and time will tell
where they lead me.
DC: Well, the band (KISS) is obviously going very strong. How cool was it to be a part of the recent finale on American Idol?
PS: American Idol was terrific. When you realize that the biggest shows on TV get a viewership of around nine million people a show, American
Idol gets between twenty-four and thirty million so it’s a phenomenon unlike regular television and I see it as another way, just being on
that show, once again is a wakeup call and an eye opener to a lot of people of what rock can be. We are spectacle proudly and when we hit the
road again on our U.S. tour we’ll have a great new show, a terrific new album, easily the best new album we’ve done since the ‘70’s,
and we’re fired up. It never ends.
DC: Having been involved in some of the prior covers, any chance you’ll be designing the cover to this forthcoming KISS album? Also,
what can you tell us about the new material?
PS: I have overseen the cover from a sense that I had a direction that I wanted to see it going and that’s what we followed although I didn’t do it, I produced the album. This is an album where I had a very keen sense and a sharp sense of what I thought it should be and
shouldn’t be and it’s turned out to be exactly what I had in mind. The band’s never been more “up” about something and rightfully so.
It’s a terrific album.
DC: KISS is scheduled to play shows in Canada before returning to tour the states. Having done the huge stadium shows in Europe and South
America, are you looking forward to a U.S. tour?
PS: We will hit the states. There’s actually a fun little diversion going on right now where cities get to vote for us to come to their city
by going to kissonline.com. There’s a button you can press where you can vote for your city and the cities with the highest vote per capita
are sure to be on the itinerary.
Paul Stanley will appear in Atlanta at the Wentworth Gallery location at
Friday – July 31, 2009 -6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Wentworth Gallery
Phipps Plaza
3500 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, Georgia
For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or
to RSVP please call 404-233-0903 or 800-732-6140
Saturday – August 1, 2009 – 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Wentworth Gallery
Perimeter Mall
4400 Ashford Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, Georgia
For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or
to RSVP please call 770-913-0641 or 800-732-6140