RETNA

With a unique visual linguistic style that is instantly recognisable, the American street artist RETNA’s powerful, often monochromatic artworks are rich in meaning. Juxtaposing Egyptian, Hebrew, Roman and Arabic calligraphy with motifs from urban culture, they reveal his fascination with wordplay and the writings of ancient cultures.

His practice is informed by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jenny Holzer and Barbara Kruger, who, like RETNA, skilfully navigate the space between image and text, combining the conceptual and literal with the abstract. “I want my text to feel universal,” he says. “I want people from different cultures to all find some similarity in it, whether they can read it or not.”

Born Marquis Lewis in 1979 in Los Angeles, like many artists whose career began on the streets, he works under the pseudonym RETNA. Joining the city’s buzzing graffiti scene as a teenager, he began experimenting with his distinctive calligraphic style. To achieve his signature dynamic yet precisely finished look, he uses a paintbrush alongside his spray can.

Since emerging on the Contemporary art scene, RETNA has created a series of publicly and privately commissioned murals in New York, Miami, Mexico City and Los Angeles and collaborated with super-brands Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Nike. His transition into the world of fine art began with the group exhibition ‘Art in the Streets’ at the LA Museum of Contemporary Art in 2011.