KISS bassist Gene Simmons was interviewed by People and shared exclusive details about his recent interest in painting and upcoming exhibitions. Simmons compared himself to the Olympic champions while he was talking about gaining money.
As you may know, KISS’ End of the Road World Tour started on January 31, 2019, at Rogers Arena, but the band had to take a break due to the coronavirus outbreak. Initially, former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth was announced as the band’s opening act, but KISS revealed that they would continue their shows with David Garibaldi.
KISS went back to the stage on August 18, 2021, in Mansfield, and they are scheduled to appear in Las Vegas, Australia, and Europe in 2022. During their break, KISS members focused on their personal hobbies and solo works. Thus, Gene Simmons started working on his paintings to stay sane. His artworks started being exhibited on October 22 in the Animazing Gallery in The Grand Canal Shoppes.
Even though the prices of his artworks are very high, Simmons clearly stated that he doesn’t do it for the money since he has already gained enough as a KISS member. Therefore, he resembled himself to Olympic champions who always try to improve their performance and do better and emphasized that he aims to be successful, not rich.
Simmons shared his ideas, saying:
“No, I have money. It is interesting. Money, for me, has become what champions in the Olympics do. They want to keep improving because they want the judges to hold up a higher number. That’s what it becomes when you don’t have enough food in your belly.
You don’t think of it that way, because you just want to feed yourself. It’s a different thing. Once you have enough, a roof over your head and food in your belly and stuff, it’s how much better can I do this? How much more can I do this? More like a contest. It’s different.”
Consequently, it can be said that Gene Simmons didn’t create his artworks, which have been receiving very positive reviews, for economic reasons. He only wanted to develop his skills as an artist and express his feelings through his paintings.
