Paul Stanley: The Starchild of Music & Artistry

By Austin Fuller

The frontman and lead singer of the legendary Rock band KISS, has dabbled in artistry throughout his long 50+ year career. As one of Rock and American music's most unabashedly flamboyant careers in music, he's currently on a 2023 fine art tour (his first in four years) with the Wentworth Gallery.

 Several of the pieces displayed were commissioned in 2020 for a museum exhibit (but like many things in 2020 it was canceled).In addition to having a hand in creating or picking many of the band's album art, costumes, and songwriting, he designed the Iconic KISS emblem, which remains one of the most universally recognized band logos of the 20th century. 

While relatively new to the art world, his paintings have been emotionally charged abstracts with a wide use of color. Well into his 70s, Stanley's success in art has been a long journey ultimately leading to having his art commissioned and put on display by the Wentworth Gallery. 

Wentworth has nine retail galleries as one of the nation's top sellers of fine art making their reach a vast expansion amongst artists and musicians, creating several partnerships. Much of Stanley's current 2023 art is crafted upon distinctive black canvas. "Most of the time we tend to paint on white canvas because of the idea that light comes from behind the color. But I found some black canvas and I was intrigued with the idea of what I could do with that" expressed Stanley when previously prompted as to what inspired the origins of his "Black Series" of artwork. As he further explained "I found that colors were very powerful. 

They seemed to come out of nowhere because they had no light behind them. So, they tend to stand up more in the foreground because they receded into the background. That was a fun discovery for me". He ended with his final observations on art: "Really that's what art has been about for me since the beginning is just discovery. I would say that I don't really have a style other than what connects all of my pieces, which is vibrant color. I've seen artists who as they psychologically or mentally deteriorated, their art went from vibrant to almost black and white much more somber.

 I view my life, on its worst day, as a miracle. I think life is amazing and I choose to represent it with color." These are considered bright words from the shining star [and a legendary man].In addition to his lucrative 50-year-long career in music with KISS [as an all-time selling great act], sales of his eye-catching paintings have sold for $25 million.

 He's also had moderate success with acting, playing the lead role in the Toronto production of Phantom of the Opera, and has written two best-selling books called "Face the Music" and "Backstage Pass". "Face the Music" I can attest is a great read as he talks about everything from KISS's origins, his inspirations, the trials and turmoil of reaching the commercial peak success for the band in the late 70s and the band's unmasked period in the 80s [where they tried to find continued success during the rise of 90s Grunge].

 “Face the Music” also includes details of the reunion tours in the 2000s that brought back the artistry of face painting. It's a recommended literary exploration for any fan of music, or a success story, and advice from an iconic man.Acknowledging that Stanley didn't pick up painting fully until his 50s shows us an example that anyone can find a creative spark even if they're already well into their respective careers. This inspiration can motivate us to pick up a paintbrush even if we have no experience in crafting artwork. If we can find that creative spark, and the courage to pick up the brush, we can create and build upon artistic skill.