Morrison Hotel Gallery Will Celebrate The Grammys and the Legacy of KISS with Career-Spanning Exhibit
Career-Spanning Exhibit and Special Appearances by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley
In celebration of Grammy Week, on Saturday, February 13th from 6 to 8 PM, Morrison Hotel Gallery at the Sunset Marquis Hotel will honor KISS with a career-spanning photographic exhibit, and debut the first edition pieces from the KISS + UKIYO-E Project. From 6:00 to 6:30 PM, KISS founders and rock n� roll icons Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley will make a very special appearance.
Morrison Hotel Gallery salutes the Grammys and the legacy of the seminal rock band with an exhibition that will feature iconic and revealing images of the group along its journey from fiery upstarts to megastars. The exhibit will also include the debut of the KISS + UKIYO-E Project which showcases a unique selection of stunning multi-colored wood block prints, representative of one of Japan�s most revered traditional genre of art. The KISS Ukiyo-e are first edition prints, limited to only 200, and are signed by the band. The �KISS Ukiyo-e� project started in fall of 2014 as the first of its kind collaboration with a team of Japanese master artisans, and has culminated in these wonderful pieces of fine art being displayed here in their first comprehensive international feature exhibit. Widely popularized during the 1600s in Edo era Japan, Ukiyo-e famously depicted current events and often illustrious entertainment industry figures and scenes, and thus this contemporary collaboration with KISS is the perfect modern day continuation of the Ukiyo-e tradition.
The photographers that are a part of this exhibit have shaped the careers of many artists, and have become pop culture legends in their own right. They include Bob Gruen, Danny Clinch, Lynn Goldsmith, Neal Preston, Norman Seeff, Patrick Harbron and Travis Shinn. The images display the group dominating the stage, captured by Patrick Harbron�s anthemic perspective, Norman Seeff�s snapshots of the bloodthirsty young band, and Neal Preston�s playful holiday shots. Also included are select images from Lynn Goldsmith�s catalog, which span the glory years of 1977 thru 1980. Danny Clinch and Travis Shinn contribute more recent images, showcasing KISS in a victorious elegance as international ambassadors of rock n� roll. Representing KISS�s worldwide adulation is a series of Japanese prints that marry the traditional art of Ukiyo-e with KISS iconography for a dazzling cross-cultural exchange.
The slogan �You wanted the best, you got the best!� has become synonymous with the rock band KISS right before they hit the stage. For 43 years, the band has delivered on the promise of defying trends and weathering lineup shifts to consistently provide anthemic rock n� roll, performed and packaged with majestic brilliance.
Grammy week is a time to reflect back on achievements in music, and to celebrate the artists that have made those achievements. No band around today has a history, or rather, a KISS-tory, like KISS. They were nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1999 for Psycho Circus.
