RETNA Prints and Multiples
American, b. 1979
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)
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Artist: RETNA
'EVEN THE HEART SKIPS A BEAT' Abstract Silkscreen Print with Diamond Dust, 2024
By RETNA
Located in New York, NY
'EVEN THE HEART SKIPS A BEAT' is a signature stylistic print by RETNA. The large-scale glittering artwork is a silkscreen print with layers of genuine diamond dust. This exquisite p...
Category
2010s Abstract RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Black and White, Screen
RETNA Braddock Tiles Print
By RETNA
Located in Englishtown, NJ
Gorgeous Retna Braddock Tiles Print.
Created by Retna in his distinctive style combining calligraphy, hieroglyphics and graffiti in gorgeous vibrant colors.
Limited edition of 250.
...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Archival Paper, Digital
Madre (Mother), dazzling Silkscreen w/ 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)
...
Category
2010s Street Art RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Pencil, Screen, Graphite, Mixed Media, Glitter
Vagos y Reinas (Vagabonds and Queens), Hand Signed, Numbered by RETNA and El Mac
By RETNA
Located in New York, NY
Makes a fantastic gift! RETNA and El Mac
Vagos y Reinas (Vagabonds and Queens), Hand Signed by both Artists, 2009
Limited Edition Exhibition Catalog and Screen Printed Box. Hand sign...
Category
Early 2000s Street Art RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Mixed Media, Offset, Ink, Board
RETNA X BTS Silkscreen Skateboard Edition of 250 V.I.P. Event
By RETNA
Located in Draper, UT
RETNA X BTS Silkscreen Skateboard Edition of 250
2018
Limited edition
Silkscreen on maple wood skateboard deck.
31 × 8 × 1 in
78.7 × 20.3 × 2.5 cm
Edition of 250
Comes with Certifica...
Category
2010s Street Art RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Wood, Birch, Screen
RETNA X BTS Silkscreen Skateboard Edition of 100 V.I.P. Event
By RETNA
Located in Draper, UT
RETNA X BTS Silkscreen Skateboard Edition of 100
2018
Limited edition
Silkscreen on maple wood skateboard deck.
31 × 8 × 1 in
78.7 × 20.3 × 2.5 cm
Edition of 100
Comes with Certifica...
Category
2010s Street Art RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Wood, Birch, Screen
RETNA Print San Francisco Opera House "Guiseppe Verdi Aida" 2016 Contemporary
By RETNA
Located in Draper, UT
Materials used:
Silkscreen On Fine Art Paper
Size
24 × 16 in 61 × 40.6 cm
Print
Condition:
Print is in Pristine Condition and has been stored flat since purchase in 2016.
Signature...
Category
2010s Street Art RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
Beyond the Streets: Skateboard w/COA signed by RETNA (Limited Edition of 100)
By RETNA
Located in New York, NY
RETNA
Skateboard (Blue with red back) and embossed COA hand signed by RETNA, 2018
Silkscreen on Maplewood skate deck. Accompanied by Certificate of Authenticity hand signed by RETNA on Embossed Letterhead
32 × 8 1/2 inches
Edition of 100
Accompanied by embossed Certificate of Authenticity hand signed by RETNA
Limited edition of only 100 - not to be confused with sthe larger edition of 250. This work is accompanied an embossed Certificate of Authenticity, issued by the sponsor "Beyond the Streets...
Category
2010s Street Art RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Wood, Screen, Maple, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Permanent Marker
LImited Edition Skateboard Skate deck, with embossed COA hand signed by RETNA
By RETNA
Located in New York, NY
RETNA
Skateboard Skate deck (Blue with green back -and embossed COA hand signed by RETNA, 2018
Silkscreen on Maplewood skate deck. Accompanied by Hand signed Certificate of Authenticity on Embossed Letterhead.
32 × 8 1/2 inches
Edition of 250
Separate embossed Certificate of Authenticity hand signed by RETNA stating that it is a limited edition of 250
RETNA Biography:
Born Marquis Lewis in 1979 in Los Angeles of African-American, Salvadorian and Cherokee decent, Lewis moved between several schools in the L.A. area, becoming more involved in graffiti culture at each location. In 1996, he chose the name RETNA from a Wu-Tang Clan lyric.
RETNA cites eclectic artistic influences such as illuminated manuscripts, Renaissance imagery, and contemporary text-based art. Religious architecture and décor have long been a focus of his. He has mentioned Edgar Degas, Gustav Klimt, JM Basquiat, Keith Haring and the Art Nouveau movement as historical references
RETNA has developed a constructed script which he uses in much of his work. Each block of text is a system of hieroglyphs, calligraphy and illuminated script that has been influenced by Arabic calligraphy, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Hebrew, Blackletter, and Native American typographies. RETNA's script communicates personal messages and poetry which are not immediately decipherable to a pedestrian audience. His hieroglyphic style artwork has also been seen in the Lower East Side on the Rivington Street Wall near Bowery.
Through the appropriation of fashion advertisements, RETNA reinvents them with intricate line work, complex layering, and a powerful range of color. Incorporating elements of Fine Art and graffiti into his varied compositions, RETNA combines visual linguistics, urban poetics, and a timeless, unique power, exploring an eclectic range of media, including graffiti, photography, and painting.
In 2011, RETNA contributed to the overall graphic and visual arts elements for the re-opening of a Nike store in Las Vegas.
In October 2012, RETNA was commissioned by the fashion design firm Louis Vuitton to create signage for their temporary Miami Design District...
Category
2010s Street Art RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
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Sacred Dance of Memories
By RETNA
Located in Miami, FL
RETNA
Sacred Dance Of Memories, 2017
Signed, named and numbered by the artist.
Lithograph 4 colors printed with Marinoni Machines and hand cut on White BFK Rives 270 g.
82 x 68 cm
Ed...
Category
2010s RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Archival Pigment, Screen
RETNA Beyond the Streets Skateboard Deck (limited edition)
By RETNA
Located in NEW YORK, NY
RETNA Beyond The Streets Limited Edition Skate Deck:
Published in conjunction with the 2018 Los Angeles exhibit, Beyond the Streets.
Accompanied by an embossed, hand-signed COA by ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art RETNA Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
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William Scharf (born 1927, Media, PA) is an American artist from New York, he teaches at The Art Students League of New York. Painting with acrylics, he was a member of the New York School movement. Often categorized as a late generation Abstract Expressionist, Known for producing paintings with abstract compositions incorporating biomorphic and geometric forms in vivid colors, the artist was influenced by Surrealism, the Color Field painters, and symbolism.
He apprenticed with Mark Rothko and was influenced by his color field paintings. The surrealist painter Arshile Gorky and the Abstract expressionism style found in 1950s New York City also influenced Scharf. His exhibits include San Francisco Art Institute (1969), the Pepperdine University's Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art (2001), and Richard York Gallery in New York City (2004).
In the heyday of Abstract Expressionism, being serious meant following the tenets of the New York School, which required abstract paintings to be spontaneous improvisations, the messier the better. At once hedonistic and disciplined, his brazen paintings are nothing if not promiscuous. The best ones mix the dynamism of gestural abstraction with sensual rhythms of decorative patterning, sometimes souping up the stew with cartoonish symbols and flourishes so ripe they belong in a dandy's fantasies. His exhibits include San Francisco Art Institute (1969), the Pepperdine University's Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art (2001) and Richard York Gallery in New York City (2004).
Scharf's work has been exhibited in a number of galleries, including the Anita Shapolsky Gallery, Meredith Ward Fine Art, and Hollis Taggart Galleries in New York City.
Scharf has been an instructor of art at various institutions including The Art Students League, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the School of Visual Arts in New York. He is a member of the Society of Illustrators and the Artists Equity Association.
EDUCATION
1944-49 The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts — Philadelphia, PA (1948 Cresson Scholar)
1949 The University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, PA
1948 The Academie de la Grand Chaumiere — Paris, France
1947 The Barnes Foundation — Merion, PA
1939-41 Samuel Fleisher Memorial School— Philadelphia, PA (also known as Graphic Sketch Club)
TEACHING HISTORY
Instructor: Painting & Drawing
1987-Present Art Students League, New York, NY
1989, 74, 69, 66, 63 San Francisco Institute of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
1965-69 he School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
1964 Art Center of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Guest Lecturer
1979 Pratt Institute, New York, NY
1974 Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
1974 California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, CA
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2004 Richard York Gallery, New York, NY
2002 P.S.1/MOMA, Queens, NY
2001 The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Malibu, CA
2000-2001 The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
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Retna prints and multiples for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic RETNA prints and multiples available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by RETNA in screen print, wood, mixed media and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the street art style. Not every interior allows for large RETNA prints and multiples, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of CB Hoyo, Denial, and Jeremy Geddes. RETNA prints and multiples prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,500 and tops out at $10,000, while the average work can sell for $2,800.
Artists Similar to RETNA
Questions About RETNA Prints and Multiples
- What is RETNA art?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMay 14, 2024RETNA art is the name of art produced by the artist RETNA. Born Marquis Lewis on March 24, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, he joined the city’s mural scene as a teenager. He was especially inspired by local graffiti and adopted the name RETNA from a Wu-Tang Clan song as his artist’s tag. In the mid-1990s, he began making murals on walls, trains and freeway overpasses throughout the city, later transforming from a street artist to a break-out star in the contemporary art world. Retna has also collaborated with major fashion brands, including Nike, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Helmut Lang. Explore a variety of RETNA art on 1stDibs.
- What kind of artist is RETNA?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertFebruary 1, 2024What kind of artist RETNA is depends on what stage of his career you're considering. Growing up in Los Angeles, RETNA was mesmerized by the graffiti that surrounded him. He began practicing the art form and adopted the name RETNA from a Wu-Tang Clan song. In the mid-1990s, he began making murals on walls, trains and freeway overpasses throughout the city. RETNA later transformed from a street artist into a break-out star in the contemporary art world. At first glance, RETNA's prints and paintings look like an undiscovered ancient script. He has created an original alphabet, fusing together influences from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Arabic, Asian calligraphy, graffiti, blackletter, Roman lettering and Hebrew. Shop a selection of RETNA art on 1stDibs.
- What does RETNA’s art mean?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022What RETNA's art means is largely a matter of personal interpretation. The graffiti artist's intention is to spark conversations with his street art that incorporates elements of Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Hebrew and Arabic calligraphy. You'll find a variety of RETNA art on 1stDibs.