| RETNA | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marquis Lewis (1979-03-24) March 24, 1979 (age 45) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Known for | calligraphy, graffiti art |
RETNA (born Marquis Lewis 1979) is a contemporary artist, primarily recognized for graffiti art. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and started his career in the early 1990s. He developed a distinctive constructed script which is derived from Blackletter, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Arabic, and Hebrew calligraphy, as well as more traditional types of street-based graffiti. In addition to exhibiting at institutions and galleries in Los Angeles, Miami, London, New York and Hong Kong, Retna has done advertising work for brands such as VistaJet, Louis Vuitton, and Nike. His artwork adorns the cover of Justin Bieber's Purpose album that debuted in 2015. Retna has many high profile patrons, including fast food magnate Sam Nazarian.
Career
His hieroglyphic style artwork has also been seen in the Lower East Side on the Rivington Street Wall near Bowery.
Museum projects
- 2013: RETNA: Para mi gente. Artist was invited to create art installation inside Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA.
Public projects
In 2016 he was commissioned to paint the side of the 24 story public housing building, Edificio Cuauhtémoc, in the Tlatelolco zone of Mexico City.
Selected solo exhibitions
- 2017: MARGRAVES, Maddox Gallery, London, UK
- 2017: MANO A MANO, New Image Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Controversy
Retna has also repeatedly been in the news for violent acts, which have included: destroying artworks, an accusation of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Brittny Gastineau, and vandalizing a Los Angeles gallery.
References
- Perler, Elie. "Street Writer RETNA returns to tag the Bowery". Bowery Boogie. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.
- "RETNA: Para mi gente". www.moca.org. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- "RETNA intervino el edificio Cuauhtémoc en Tlatelolco". Nice Fucking Graphics!. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- LA Artist RETNA presents first UK solo exhibition in six years at Maddox Gallery, Mayfair by Victoria Forbes-Watson, at The London Musings; published October 2, 2017; retrieved October 27, 2018
- LA Artist RETNA Brings his Calligraphic Graffiti to Frieze Art Fair by Keith Estiler; at HYPEBEAST; published October 3, 2017; retrieved October 27, 2018
- RETNA goes MANO A MANO, at Juxtapoz, published September 2017; retrieved October 27, 2018
- Retna: Mano A Mano at Wall Street International Magazine; published October 21, 2017; retrieved October 27, 2018
- "Retna Had a 'Tantrum' in an LA Gallery". artnet News. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- "LAPD Is Reportedly Investigating Street Artist RETNA for Vandalizing a Gallery That Declined to Include His Work in Its Show". artnet News. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- "Brittny Gastineau Pal Says She Wasn't the Aggressor in Fight". Us Weekly. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- Shenton, Zoe (17 June 2014). "Kim Kardashian's BFF Brittny Gastineau and Marquis Lewis want to put violent attack behind them". mirror. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- "LAPD Is Reportedly Investigating Street Artist RETNA for Vandalizing a Gallery That Declined to Include His Work in Its Show". artnet News. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2019.