Gene Simmons of Kiss to launch art exhibit on the Strip

You can have a brush with rock iconography at a Las Vegas Strip art gallery this fall.

Gene Simmons of Kiss is debuting “ArtWorks,” a collection of his sketches and paintings at Animazing Gallery at The Venetian Grand Canal Shoppes from Oct. 14-16.

Simmons — Kiss’s legendary co-founder, bassist and Demon persona — has recently moved to the scenic Ascaya hillside community in Henderson. The relocation has spurred buzz that Kiss would be entertaining a Las Vegas residency, with Zappos Theater the most obvious and available venue.

The band is due to play its “End Of The Road” tour from Aug. 18-Nov. 4, resuming April 20. That leaves a healthy gap from January through March for a possible Vegas run. There has been no confirmation of a Kiss series. Zappos has said through direct messages that “we have no word on when it will be announced” and to stay updated on the venue’s website and social-media channels.

Simmons’ Las Vegas art collection has never been displayed publicly. The rock star has long been passionate about artwork. He moved to the U.S. from Israel as a little boy and used art to communicate, beginning at age 8.

When COVID knocked the Kiss tour off schedule, Simmons returned to his artwork. In a statement, he said, “I had a chance to pull decades of my art out of storage, and it reignited my passion for drawing and painting again.”

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Dr. Miriam Adelson, the majority shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Las Vegas Sands operates The Venetian.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.