RETNA (Américain, né en 1979)

Untitled, 2007 Technique mixte sur panneaux de bois assemblés Mixed media on four wooden panels as one work 182 x 122.2 cm - 71,75 x 48 in Le s tyle urbain et avant-gardiste de Retna est une fusion de toutes les influences autour de lui, ayant grandi à Los Angeles comme enfant aux origines afro-américaines, cherokee et salvadoriennes. Il a créé sa propre police de graffiti, combinant la typographie old english avec la typographie arabe, hébreu et sancrit. Chaque oeuvre créée par Retna est très personnelle. Comme il l'a expliqué dans une interview donnée à Ann Binlot pour le magazine More Intelligent Life Magazine au sujet de ses oeuvres, «J'ai simplement une conversation avec moi-même... J'entends un mot, une phrase ou un diologue, ce cela devient ma réponse. Elles disent toutes quelque chose». Sans titre, à juste titre, incarne cette explication de Retna. Retna's urban Avant-guard style is a fusion of the many influences surrounding him as he grew up in Los Angeles as a child of African- American, Cherokee and El Salvadorian descent. He created his own graffiti calligraphy by combing his fascination of Old English typography with Arabic, Hebrew, and Sanskrit. Each work that Retna created is extremely personal to him and represents a first hand account in his life. As Retna explained in his interview with Ann Binlot for More Intelligent Life Magazine, "I'm just having a conversation with myself...I hear a word or a phrase or a dialogue, and then that becomes my response. They all say something"1. Untitled, adequately named, embodies that explanation from Retna. A beautiful ethnic woman stares at the viewer from the top right corner while an incomprehensible though mesmerizing script is intricately etched along the work. In the bottom left hand corner an abstract city scene is depicted in grey, sharply contrasting the vibrant orange, reds, browns, and turquoise around it.