Retna (Marquis Lewis)

His name is RETNA. That name echoes like an ancient glyph etched into the concrete skin of a modern city. Born in 1979 in Los Angeles, he entered the world as Marquis Lewis — but it’s the name RETNA that truly captures the essence of his spirit and vision, with African-American, El Salvadoran and Cherokee roots woven into his identity.

The pseudonym RETNA was born from a lyric that struck him like lightning. While listening to Wu-Tang Clan’s “Heaterz”, he heard the line: “Kinetic globes light when it shine, burns your retina.” He twisted the word retina into RETNA — claiming it as a symbol of visual intensity, of seeing and being seen. From the outset he turned away from conventional forms of expression, inventing a visual language of his own — an intricate typographic system rooted in Gothic calligraphy, hieroglyphs, Hebrew, Arabic script and classic graffiti codes.

Today, RETNA’s work spans continents and contexts — from towering public murals to canvases in elite galleries. Yet he has never turned his back on the streets: for him, the city wall remains the truest canvas — a place where silence shouts and symbols breathe.

RETNA doesn’t just paint. He communicates. His lines whisper, chant, and sometimes roar — his language may be indecipherable to some, but for those who pause and truly look, it reveals a deep, ancient kind of truth. Behind his quiet intensity stands his partner and wife, Veronika Mudra — a constant source of strength and creative grounding.