Pouring your heart out it is usually done when you love a person, place or thing to death, but just like anything else there is an art to pouring your heart out so that it doesn’t spill all over the place and miss your target completely. On June 21st, a rising street artist from Jersey City, New Jersey named Ability was featured at NYC’s The City’s Dream Gallery to show us exactly how he puts the art in heart. At first, Ability appears as a regular Jersey City resident, but upon closer inspection, he reveals himself to be a young man who is enthusiastic about his work and puts everything he can into what he does. Sometimes jolting out of his seat, as if hit by a bolt of lightning, running around with wild enthusiasm, Ability comes off as one of the nicest Frankenstein monsters you’ll meet, and thinks the same about the people he meets. This is what made his show Put the Art in Heart so special. All of your weirdness was exposed and no one thought anything of it as long as you were there living and enjoying the moment.
Ability shared the space with a friend of his to offer stencils, acrylic-based paintings, drawings, and mixed media pieces, relaying images of a brain and heart duking it out in a boxing ring, Brad Pitt breaking the rules he had set about Fight Club, dragon fossils, monsters from Monsters Inc. creeping through the doorway, and Chinese fortunes glued on tiny canvases accompanied with images of koi fish, chameleons, and many other animals. It was truly was a treat to walk around the gallery tapping my foot to the sound of a jazz band who got to study and play with the likes of Mulgrew Miller, who had recently passed away.
When I wasn’t busy looking at the art I took time to meet and greet a few people who were around and met other local street artists, and guys and gals in their 20’s with long hair, short hair, and custom made t-shirts talking about everything that shown under the moonlight, which was growing bigger and bigger every second that weekend. People were outside smoking cigarettes, taking walks to find his street art put up in the area, and some just standing inside smiling to one another as they stared at paint that was already dry.
If you don’t like jazz or think street art shouldn’t be on canvases, stop signs, and sheet rock, Ability gave you the opportunity to go out on a scavenger hunt to find some of his artwork on the streets while offering t-shirts with logos like “I hate this shirt,” and “Younique,” as well as prints of his work as prizes. It was a pleasure to work with the young artist who I am extremely grateful for bringing people together for a common purpose. To appreciate art and send a message to mankind to live peaceful lives among the masses was what this show was all about, and you can see that the love just didn’t pour out of Ability, but it sprayed, projected, dripped, illuminated, and was even yanked out of him.
