Street Art Tells Its Story

The strange and sometimes ethereal scrawlings upon the sides of dilapidated buildings fascinate me with their mystery. Street art is so seldom explained; as their art is bleached into oblivion by layers of whitewash, the secret stories of the graffiti artists' work are known only to themselves; when the story comes to light, I find myself deeply touched.

The Wooster Collective explains the above piece of street art on Greene Street:

The drawing was done by Melanie in memory of her friend Ivy Marcella. Ivy Marcella passed away last year at the age of only 19.

Melanie was born and raised in Manhattan but Ivy Marcella was originally from Martha's Vineyard. She came to visit Melanie in the city and the two spent most of their time walking around Soho. They spent a lot of time on Greene Street and Melanie made Ivy Marcella take "cool deep artistic pictures" at the exact spot in the photo above.

What Melanie didn't know at the time was that a year later the spot on Greene Street where artists have put up their work for years, would mean a lot more to her. After she died, Melanie went back to the place on Greene Street and put a portrait of Ivy Marcella in her honor and in her memory.

I think it's just wonderfully touching that an artist with the sensitivity and talent to put up such a beautiful tribute to a departed friend (robbed from her at an age where friendships take upon such feverish significance) could describe her friend's work as simply as to say she drew "cool deep artistic pictures." What more needs to be said? The personal beauty of Ivy Marcella's work spoke to Melanie by itself; it didn't need to be described to be understood.

Every Picture Tells A Story [Wooster Collective]