Artist: RETNA
Title: Untitled Black and White Graphic Abstract
Medium: Original Acrylic on Wove Paper
Year: c. 2010-2020
Size: 30" x 22.5"
Edition: Original
Documentation: Includes original gallery certificate of authenticity including stated provenance direct from RETNA's studio
This elegant, minimal composition by RETNA distills his distinctive visual language into its most essential form. "Untitled Black and White" Graphic Abstract explores the expressive possibilities of line and rhythm through a tightly controlled series of vertical strokes rendered in deep black acrylic against a stark white background. Each mark varies in opacity, pressure, and spacing, creating a hypnotic cadence that feels at once calligraphic and architectural.
The composition emphasizes a masterful control of negative space, where the voids between strokes become as active and intentional as the marks themselves. In contrast to RETNA's more densely layered typographic works, this piece embraces restraint—highlighting the purity of form and the meditative nature of repetition. Its visual language evokes echoes of East Asian ink painting and modernist abstraction, while remaining rooted in the artist's own invented script, which draws from global calligraphic traditions.
Executed during a formative decade in RETNA's studio practice, the work arrives with impeccable documentation, including the original gallery-issued Certificate of Authenticity with direct provenance from the artist's studio. This certification not only verifies the originality of the work but situates it within the continuum of RETNA's evolving oeuvre—one that bridges the worlds of street art, spirituality, and contemporary abstraction.
Please note that this piece is currently not framed; the pictures showing it framed are mock-ups for reference.
With its refined palette and disciplined mark-making, "Untitled Black and White" Graphic Abstract stands as a meditative investigation of language, identity, and the elemental power of the hand-drawn line.
About RETNA
Marquis Lewis, better known by his artistic moniker RETNA, was born in Los Angeles in 1979—a city whose layered cultures and urban sprawl would shape the trajectory of his creative life. Coming of age in the vibrant graffiti scene of the 1990s, RETNA stood out early on, not just for the boldness of his murals, but for the language he was quietly inventing: a personal script drawn from the world's oldest writing systems, reimagined through the lens of contemporary street art.
The name RETNA, a reference to the eye's retina, speaks to his lifelong pursuit—to create images that imprint themselves indelibly on the viewer. His works pulse with visual rhythm: symbols that recall Arabic calligraphy, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Hebrew letters, Gothic type, and even pre-Columbian forms. Though not meant to be read in the traditional sense, his compositions evoke a deep sense of meaning, meditation, and cultural memory.
By the early 2000s, RETNA was bringing his street-born style into galleries. The transition was seamless—his studio pieces carried the same gravity and scale as his outdoor murals, often layered with metallics, dense textures, and spiritual undertones. Whether applied to canvas, building façades, or sculptural surfaces, RETNA's script functioned as both image and incantation.
His reach expanded quickly. He collaborated with global brands like Chanel and Nike, and in 2011, his lettering adorned the cover of Justin Bieber's Purpose album, bringing his cryptic, poetic forms into millions of homes. Yet through it all, RETNA remained rooted in the street—a rare artist able to move fluidly between fine art institutions and the raw concrete of the city.
Today, RETNA's work spans painting, installation, and performance. His evolving language continues to bridge cultures and eras, speaking to the sacred and the profane, the personal and the universal. He is not merely writing on walls—he is etching a new visual code into the heart of contemporary art.
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