Who is the street artist RETNA? Born Marquis Lewis in Los Angeles, he turned a self-invented alphabet, drawn from Hebrew, Arabic, Egyptian hieroglyphs and Gothic blackletter, into one of Contemporary art’s most recognisable signatures. Getting to know RETNA means following that script from LA walls to Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Justin Bieber’s Purpose album cover, and into the diamond-dusted canvases collectors pursue today. Maddox Gallery explores the man, the meaning and the market.
There is no mistaking a painting by the Los Angeles-born street artist RETNA, even if you cannot make sense of his mysterious script. For more than three decades, the artist has been turning the written word into art, developing an extraordinary form of calligraphy that owes as much to the streets of LA as it does to ancient languages. With his paintings now sought out by collectors worldwide, we explore the man behind the symbols, the career of the artist who created them and the RETNA artwork collectors are pursuing today.
Who Is Street Artist RETNA?
The artist, RETNA, working in his studio © RETNA
RETNA is the pseudonym of Marquis Lewis, an American Contemporary artist born in Los Angeles in 1979. Best known for his paintings and murals featuring an intricate, self-invented script, he has built an international career that spans street art, fine art and collaborations with some of the biggest names in fashion and music.
His story began in LA, where he grew up surrounded by the city's tags and murals. With the city’s rich tradition of Chicano muralism and graffiti writing, Lewis was fascinated by the stylised lettering he encountered around him. He started experimenting with graffiti at a young age, immersing himself in LA’s fiercely competitive graffiti scene, where a writer’s reputation was built on the streets. “And that was it. I became hooked on graffiti,” he recalled in a 2025 interview with VladTV, remembering his early fascination with the art form.
In a culture where recognition had to be earned, Lewis learned from established graffiti artists, among them Chaz Bojórquez, a pioneering figure in Los Angeles street art who would become an important early supporter. It was during these early years that Marquis Lewis, RETNA to his fellow graffiti writers, began developing a writing system of his own – the geometric alphabet that has become his signature.
Usher, Dave Chappelle, Nicole Scherzinger and DJ Steve Aoki are all collectors of RETNA art, and his following extends well beyond the worlds of music and entertainment. His paintings are also sought after by Contemporary art collectors, with an established global following.
What Does RETNA Mean? The Name and the Alphabet Behind His Art
The name RETNA comes from an unlikely source: the Wu-Tang Clan’s 1997 track Heaterz, which includes the lyric “burns your retina”. Lewis dropped the “i” to create RETNA, a graffiti tag that went on to become his internationally recognised artistic identity.
The origins of the RETNA alphabet are considerably more complex. Fascinated by the history of written language, he developed his own system of symbols, borrowing elements from Arabic and Hebrew calligraphy, Egyptian hieroglyphics, Old English blackletter and the Cholo graffiti lettering he encountered growing up in LA. Arranged in ordered columns, the elongated, angular characters resemble an ancient manuscript waiting to be translated.
So, is it actually possible to decipher the RETNA graffiti alphabet? His paintings frequently contain words, phrases and personal messages, sometimes referencing poetry, religion or events in his own life. However, his symbols do not belong to a conventional language with a fixed, publicly available translation, nor is there an official RETNA font or downloadable RETNA graffiti alphabet that would allow viewers to decipher his paintings letter by letter.
His calligraphy exists somewhere between writing and abstraction, with the arrangement and form of the symbols as important as the messages they contain. RETNA deliberately leaves their interpretation open, allowing people to appreciate his work without needing to decipher the symbols. “I want my text to feel universal. I want people from different cultures to all find some similarity in it, whether they can read it or not,” he explains.
There is a meditative quality to a RETNA painting, created by the repetition of his densely arranged symbols. And although their meaning may remain elusive, the possibility that they conceal hidden meanings adds another layer of intrigue.
For a closer look at the influences and hidden messages within his writing, explore Maddox Gallery’s guide to decoding RETNA’s graffiti and murals.
From LA Walls to Museums: Why RETNA’s Career Matters to Collectors
RETNA, Blooming Series #2 (2025)
As a member of the AWR (Art Work Rebels) crew, the street artist RETNA established his reputation in LA, where the originality of a writer’s lettering was everything. Entire walls became canvases for his signature calligraphy, with RETNA street art appearing in cities from Miami and New York to London and Mexico City.
His museum debut came in 2011 with Art in the Streets at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, the first major US museum exhibition to explore the history of graffiti and street art on such a scale. Two years later, he returned to MOCA with his own installation, Para mi gente. One of its two murals featured the names of artists who had influenced him – an acknowledgement of the graffiti community that had played such a pivotal role in his artistic development.
In 2012, RETNA was invited to take over New York’s legendary Houston Bowery Wall, a site associated with some of the biggest names in street art since Keith Haring painted it in 1982. In just two days, RETNA covered the entire wall in his red and blue script. RETNA paintings, by contrast, have allowed the artist’s once-ephemeral graffiti to find a permanent home in private collections and galleries around the world.
“My practice has always sought to move beyond borders of geography, culture, or even legibility,” RETNA shared in 2025. His career certainly reflects that ambition, with more than 70 exhibitions spanning 27 cities and 11 countries. His work has also entered major institutional collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Pasadena Museum of California Art.
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From Street to Storefront: RETNA’s Brand Collaborations
The commercial projects of street artist RETNA are unusually varied, encompassing luxury fashion, streetwear, aviation and music. How many graffiti artists can claim to have painted a private jet, decorated a Chanel boutique and created artwork for one of the world’s biggest pop stars?
In Situ RETNA: Store Façades and a Hand-Painted Jet
Street artist RETNA’s hand-painted unique artwork on the tail of a $60,000,000 luxury aircraft © Mark Westall
In 2011, RETNA brought his unique calligraphic art to Chanel Beverly Hills, creating a black-on-black installation for one of the walls of the boutique. This early RETNA Chanel collaboration, featuring his angular lettering, rendered entirely in black, embraced the French fashion house’s iconic monochrome aesthetic.
The following year, a new RETNA Louis Vuitton collaboration brought his calligraphy to Miami’s Design District, this time in a much more colourful guise. His script covered the entire exterior of the French fashion house’s boutique in vivid pink and turquoise, transforming the façade into an enormous piece of street art. Inside, he created a further installation for the store’s VIP area.
One of the most unlikely surfaces to receive the RETNA graffiti treatment was the tail of a private jet. For VistaJet’s Hallelujah World Tour in 2011, he hand-painted a Bombardier Global Express XRS, sending his signature lettering up into the skies.
More recently, a RETNA mural has become a permanent feature of a private garage at Finish Line Auto Club in Westlake Village, California. Completed in 2025, his sprawling artwork covers the interior walls of a 2,563-square-foot space. The mural is part of the garage itself, providing a dramatic backdrop to collectors’ prized cars.
RETNA Collectibles: Fashion and Music Collaborations
A view of Louis Vuitton’s mural by LA Artist RETNA from the opening night © WWD
“Fashion and art are one in the same,” RETNA told Vogue in 2011, “because it takes artists to design beautiful clothes.” That same year, Nike commissioned him to create artwork for its Las Vegas store, placing his graphic lettering in front of a new audience of sportswear enthusiasts.
His collaboration with Louis Vuitton continued in 2013, when the fashion house invited RETNA to contribute to its Foulards d’Artistes collection, alongside fellow street artists Aiko and Os Gêmeos. The resulting Script Stole, a limited-edition scarf created in cashmere and silk, featured his unmistakable alphabet on a luxury accessory for the first time.
Three versions of RETNA's artwork for Justin Bieber’s album, “Purpose” © Artsper
In 2015, music brought RETNA’s alphabet to an even larger audience when Justin Bieber commissioned him to create the artwork for Purpose, his fourth studio album. The cover features a shirtless Bieber, his head bowed and hands clasped above his head, with the artist’s oversized white symbols layered over the photograph, giving it an almost spiritual quality that echoes Bieber’s prayer-like pose.
Arguably his highest-profile collaboration, the RETNA Justin Bieber collaboration put a once-underground graffiti alphabet on the cover of a global pop release, introducing his distinctive symbols to millions of music fans.
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COLLECTOR INSIGHT: CAN YOU READ RETNA’S SCRIPT? RETNA’s script is designed to be appreciated without a translation. By combining elements of different writing traditions into a language of his own, his aim is to cross cultural boundaries, allowing people to find something familiar in his symbols, regardless of where they come from or which language they speak. |
Collecting RETNA Today: His Most Sought-After New Paintings
“Each line is a record of rhythm, history and gesture,” RETNA wrote in 2025. His latest paintings explore this idea through a plethora of new materials, with enamel, crystalline finishes, diamond dust and liquid metals bringing texture, depth and unexpected light effects to his calligraphic script.
RETNA, Copper Eggshells (2026)
Among the RETNA art for sale at Maddox Gallery is Copper Eggshells (2026). Measuring 153 x 122cm, the canvas features large, overlapping gold symbols against a vibrant background of turquoise greens. The use of enamel and diamond dust materials gives the letters a reflective finish, so that they seem to float above the colours beneath.
In Ancient Script (2025), a 122 x 122cm painting in acrylic, enamel and diamond dust, RETNA works entirely in black, with tightly arranged characters emerging from the dark canvas. The diamond dust introduces a delicate reflective quality, catching the light as the viewer moves around the painting. It is an effect that photographs struggle to reproduce, making the experience of seeing the original particularly rewarding.
More experimental still is Carrara (2025). Measuring 183 x 140cm, RETNA uses liquid gold, silver and copper on faux leather to create a gilded effect. As with the diamond dust, the way light plays across the gold and silver is integral to the experience of the work.
What to Know Before Buying RETNA Art
Original RETNA paintings command considerably higher prices than works on paper or limited-edition prints, with size, age, rarity, provenance and the significance of an individual piece all influencing value.
RETNA artist prints are another area experiencing strong collector interest, particularly his signed and numbered screenprints, lithographs and etchings. Edition size can influence desirability, as can the image, date, printing technique and publisher. As with any collectible print, authenticity and provenance are essential, particularly when purchasing on the secondary market.
The physical qualities of a RETNA artwork are another important consideration. His script is most commanding on a large canvas, while diamond dust, crystalline finishes and liquid metals bring an added dimension to his paintings, allowing them to interact with the light in a room in ways that conventional pigments cannot.
Finally, buying through a trusted gallery such as Maddox Gallery gives collectors access to specialist knowledge of the artist’s practice, from the evolution of the RETNA script to the materials and techniques used in his paintings. We can also provide detailed information on an artwork’s provenance, condition and exhibition history, alongside personal advice on selecting a work, whether adding to an established collection or acquiring your first RETNA painting.
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Discover RETNA’s Art at Maddox Gallery
Instantly recognisable, the work of Marquis Lewis – RETNA, as he is better known – is the product of more than 30 years of artistic development, with his recent experiments in colour, texture and unusual materials adding new dimensions to his paintings.
Maddox Gallery offers a selection of original paintings, works on paper and limited-edition screenprints, giving collectors the opportunity to discover the breadth of his work and find a piece that speaks to them.
Explore the RETNA artworks currently available at Maddox Gallery or speak to one of our art advisors for expert guidance on acquiring a work for your collection.
