Retna at New Image Art

The next show at New Image Art is Desaturated, a solo show from Retna. The show opens March 20th. It looks like the artworks are similar to this photo (maybe NSFW). Some people love Retna, some don’t, but what really can’t be argued is his influence on the LA graffiti scene.

Retna was born in Los Angeles, California in 1979. Since first creating a name for himself in the early 1990s, Retna has become an “eternal broadcaster” of sorts, shining a light to the kinetic urban soul of Los Angeles. The name RETNA itself evokes the timeless power, movement and visual vibrancy behind the artist’s acclaimed work. His work merges photography with graffiti style and paint, time with color, couture with street culture, the spiritual with the sensual, and fluidity with grit. Whether his paintings hang in a gallery or wall on the streets of Los Angeles, they serve as a retina through which we view the urban journal of contemporary art.

At an early age, Retna was introduced to L.A.’s mural culture. While still in high school, he led one of the largest and most innovative graffiti art collectives the city has witnessed. He is perhaps best known for appropriating fashion advertisements and amplifying them with his unique layering, intricate line work, text-based style and incandescent color palette reflecting an eclectic artistic tradition. RETNA became just as notorious for his ornate painting technique as his timeless style: he used paintbrushes mixed with the traditional spray can. Many of his pieces synthesize the line between fine art and graffiti, between power and opposition, between tradition and advancement.

Today, Retna traverses between the galleries and streets with ease. Retna is a member of the Art Work Rebels and Mad Society Kings Art Groups. In December 2007, he contributed to a large-scale mural project with El Mac and Reyes called “La Reina del Sur” at Miami’s Primary Flight during Art Basel. His most recent projects include an exhibition titled “Vagos Y Reinas” at Robert Berman Gallery and a mural called “Seeing Signs” at the Margulies Warehouse for Primary Flight.

Two graffiti shows

Two major graffiti shows have opened (and one has closed) without me saying a thing. Sometimes I get too involved in street art and forget about graffiti and its awesomeness.

First is Futura’s Odyssey Two which was in Berlin but closed on the 27th. Futura is a graffiti legend, so I’m always interested in seeing some new work from him. Here are a few pics and a video interview:

Photo by urbanartcore.eu
Photo by urbanartcore.eu
Photo by urbanartcore.eu
Photo by urbanartcore.eu
Photo by urbanartcore.eu
Photo by urbanartcore.eu

More photos from the show at urbanartcore.eu‘s flickr set.

And the video:

futura 2009 from TausB on Vimeo.

And graffiti show number two is all the way in Santa Monica, California at Robert Berman Gallery. Retna and Mac are big names in California, but have yet to really become as well known over here in Europe. Known Gallery has a bunch of pics you can check out from the private view, but unfortunately I can’t download them to use on Vandalog so here’s the show’s flyer:

retnaflyer