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. RETNA's 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.
His hieroglyphic style artwork has also been seen on the Lower East Side on the Rivington Street Wall near Bowery.[1]
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.[3]
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.[9][10][11][12][13]
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