Submit a bio  

Artist Biography & Facts
Retna

Retna (Born 1979) is active/lives in California.  Retna is known for Painting, graffiti.

The street and studio artist Retna, born Marquis Lewis, picked his moniker from the lyrics of a Wu Tang song that resonated with him in his youth.  Retna explains that he was inspired to pursue art after seeing graffiti on the freeway, and his practice now includes street art and painting on canvas.  Retna has become known for his long and geometric script, which he developed while looking towards Egyptian and Native American traditional symbols.

Though his marks resemble the calligraphy of multiple cultures (and he maintains that he composes his works in English and Spanish), 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.”   ...  [Displaying 831 of 1547 characters.]  Artist bio

Artist auction records

.  askART's database currently holds 193 auction lots for Retna (of which 160 auction records sold and 1 are upcoming at auction.)

Artist artworks for sale and wanted

.  There are 0 artworks for sale on our website by galleries and art dealers . There are 1 galleries and art dealers listing works of art by Retna as either "Wanted" or "For Sale" .

Research resources

.  askART lists Retna in 0 of its research Essays. Retna has 2 artist signature examples available in our database.

Similar artists

.  There are 24 similar (related) artists for Retna available:    Faile,  Bast,  Donald Joseph (DONDI) White,  Ron English,  Futura 2000,  Christian Marclay,  Artist Unknown,  Rammellzee,  Dash (Dashiell) Snow,  Shepard (Sheppard) Fairey,  Mr Brainwash,  Ben Eine,  Hebru Brantley,  Swoon,  Pure Evil,  Alec Monopoly,  Invader,  DALeast,  D Face,  Conor Harrington,  KAWS,  Banksy,  BE@RBRICK,  Denial



Copyright © 1999-2024 askART.com and underlying auction houses. All Rights Reserved. Digital copying of these images and content strictly prohibited; violators will be subject to the law including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Facts about Retna

The street and studio artist Retna, born Marquis Lewis, picked his moniker from the lyrics of a Wu Tang song that resonated with him in his youth.  Retna explains that he was inspired to pursue art after seeing graffiti on the freeway, and his practice now includes street art and painting on canvas.  Retna has become known for his long and geometric script, which he developed while looking towards Egyptian and Native American traditional symbols.

Though his marks resemble the calligraphy of multiple cultures (and he maintains that he composes his works in English and Spanish), the writing does not belong to a particular language.  Retna explains, “I want my text to feel universal.  I want people from different  ...  Displaying 750 of 1547 characters.

Subscriber Members, please Sign In for artist biographies and for all services.  

For non-paying users, good news! Full text bios for all artists are available every Friday.

If you are not currently a member, please See Details about membership.
Top