Born Marquis Lewis on March 24, 1979, in Los Angeles, CA, Retna joined the Los Angeles mural scene as a teenager.
As a youth of African-American, El Salvadorian and Cherokee descent growing up in Los Angeles, Retna was mesmerized by the gang graffiti that surrounded him. He began practicing the art form and adopted the name Retna from a Wu-Tang Clan song. In the mid-nineties, he began making murals on walls, trains and freeway overpasses throughout the city.
Retna transformed from a street artist to a break-out star in the contemporary art world. He garnered attention from Usher, an R&B artist, who commissioned the artist to create a portrait of Marvin Gaye, and MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch, who wrote in the September 2010 issue of Juxtapoz “one of the most exciting exhibitions...this year, anywhere, was Retna's exhibition at New Image Art.” MOCA also featured Retna's work in the major “Art in the Streets” exhibit, the first major U.S. museum survey of graffiti and street art.
At first glance, Retna’s prints and paintings look like an undiscovered ancient script: a series of hypnotic symbols — complex, beautiful and captivating. But he has created an original alphabet, fusing together influences from ancient Incan and Egyptian hieroglyphics, Arabic, Asian calligraphy, graffiti, blackletter, Roman lettering and Hebrew script.
Each piece carries meaning, conveying an event or dialogue that the artist experienced. The writing does not belong to a particular language. Retna explains, “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 has also stated that “it is important to have art in the streets as a cultural fabric that is woven into the city for the upliftment of civic pride.”
Retna’s works are in the private collections of Jeffrey Deitch, Swizz Beats, Usher, and Dave Chappelle, among many others. His large-scale mural across the eastern exterior of Restoration Hardware’s new gallery in West Palm, Florida, was valued at $500,000 by the city’s Art in Public Places program.
Retna has collaborated with major fashion brands including Nike, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Helmut Lang, and designed the artwork for Justin Bieber’s Purpose album cover. RETNA also acted as the artistic designer for the San Francisco and Washington National Opera’s production of “Aida."
Find original Retna art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by New Union Gallery)
RETNA - Madre, dazzling Silkscreen with Crystallina (diamond dust) hand Signed/n
By RETNA
Located in New York, NY
RETNA Madre (Mother), 2023 Silkscreen and crystallina (diamond dust) on Coventry rag paper Hand signed and numbered by RETNA from the limited edition of only 75 on the front (41/75) ...
Glitter, Screen
Head
By Bram Van Velde
Located in Paris, FR
Lithograph, 1969 Edition : 60/300 Publisher : Edition Prisunic (Paris) Printer : Imprimerie Clot, Bramsen & Georges (Paris) Catalog : [Rivière 49, p.67] 65.50 cm. x 48.00 cm. 25...
Lithograph
$12,000Sale Price|20% Off
H 44.5 in W 29.25 in
Dedication–Lincoln Center (B.App.23)
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
44.5 x 29.25 ins (113 x 74.3 cms) Edition of 108 Signature:Signed "R. Motherwell" in pencil lower left Inscriptions:Numbered in pencil lower left; some impressions have artist's chop mark lower left Publisher:The Juilliard School...
Color, Mixed Media, Screen
Invierno Primaveral
By Julian Schnabel
Located in New York, NY
"Sexual Spring-like Winter" is a large painterly work, created with layers of pink and resin by the art and film world's favorite enfant terrible, Julian Schnabel. The artist and dir...
Screen
Rough Fiber Scarf
Located in Dallas, TX
The first edition to wear. The striking orange roughfiber work is brought to life by printing on high-quality satin silk and can be admired or worn....
Silk, Screen
Sox, Abstract Silkscreen and Collage by Ray Elman
By Ray Elman
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Ray Elman Title: Sox Year: 1979 Medium: Screenprint and Collage, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 88/160 Image: 27.75 x 24 inches Paper Size: 3...
Newsprint, Screen
$1,250
H 38 in W 32 in
G.S. Came As An Artichoke, Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Ray Elman
By Ray Elman
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Ray Elman Title: G.S. came as an Artichoke Year: 1979 Medium: Serigraph and Collage, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 99 Paper Size: 38 in. x 3...
Newsprint, Screen
$9,200
H 57.75 in W 6.25 in
GEOMETRIC ABSTRACT 1969 “Twin Planes” Screenprint on Canvas
By Kenneth Noland
Located in New York, NY
Kenneth Noland "Twin Planes" USA, 1969 Screenprint on canvas laminated to board From an edition of 200 6.25"H 58.75"W (artwork) Original Period frame Overall good condition 'Twin ...
Lithograph, Canvas, Screen
Barbara Kruger, Untitled (2Kiss)
By Barbara Kruger
Located in Hamburg, DE
Barbara Kruger (1945, American) Untitled (2Kiss), 2024 Medium: Screenprint on mirrored polished steel Dimensions: 30 x 30 cm Edition of 300 + 10 APs: Artist stamp, numbered Condition...
Steel
$8,000
H 27.625 in W 61.25 in
All These Burnt Out Comets, Unwound Ciphers, and the Dark Span of Madness
By Jacob Hashimoto
Located in Indianapolis, IN
Jacob Hashimoto (1973) All These Burnt Out Comets, Unwound Ciphers, and the Dark Span of Madness (2019) Mixografia® print on handmade paper and archival pigment print Size: 25 x 59 ...
Paper, Mixed Media, Handmade Paper, Archival Pigment
Slate
By Lesley Anderson
Located in New York, NY
ABOUT THIS ARTIST: Lesley Anderson (b. 1986) is a Canadian painter living on the west coast of Canada. She uses a variety of methods and materials to create her work, including ink, ...
Photographic Paper
$1,200
H 25.5 in W 16 in D 1.5 in
Space Egg, 2018, hand embellished serigraph, screen print, custom frame, purple
By Loren Abbate
Located in Jersey City, NJ
serigraph with hand embellishments float mounted in custom shadow box frame
Thread, Rag Paper, Screen
$5,500
H 51 in W 51 in
Large Nancy Graves Color Aquatint Drypoint Etching Screenprint Metallic Gold
By Nancy Graves
Located in Surfside, FL
Nancy Graves, American (1939-1995) Borborygmi (1988) aquatint, drypoint, gold leaf and screenprint on Fabriano Artistico paper pencil hand signed by artist lower right, numbered 4/50 (there were also 6 Artist Proofs of this edition) plate: 49.5 x 49.5 inches Publisher: 2RC Edizioni d'Arte, Rome Nancy Graves (December 23, 1939 – October 21, 1995) was an American woman sculptor, painter, printmaker, and sometime-filmmaker known for her focus on natural phenomena like camels or maps of the moon. Her works are included in many public collections, including those of the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), and the Museum of Fine Arts (St. Petersburg). When Graves was just 29, she was given a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. At the time she was the youngest artist, and fifth woman to achieve this honor. Graves was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Her interest in art, nature, and anthropology was fostered by her father, an accountant at a local museum. After graduating from Vassar College in English Literature, Graves attended Yale University, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees. Fellow Yale Art and Architecture alumni of the 1960s include the painters, photographers, and sculptors Brice Marden, Richard Serra, Chuck Close, Janet Fish, Gary Hudson...
Screen