Inside Shadows of Light: Reading RETNA's Visual Language

Light and shadow — that is what the work is really about. The symbols are the shadows. The wall is the light. Or the other way around, depends how you look at it. In 2013 RETNA painted a private VistaJet aircraft, covering the fuselage in his script — white marks against the sky, the shadows of the letters changing with the sun. Morning looks different than noon. The piece is never the same twice. That is what people miss when they try to read the alphabet. They are looking for meaning in the symbols, but the meaning is in the light, the shadow, the way the characters catch your eye or disappear into darkness. RETNA works in black on black, white on white, because the contrast between what is there and what is almost there is more interesting than color. The spaces between the letters tell you as much as the letters themselves.

RETNA painted a private VistaJet aircraft (2013). 'Shadows of Light' — painting sold 2012, approx $29.7K. Monochrome works documented. Sources: fineart.ha.com · singulart.com