Having adopted the name “Retna” from a popular Wu-Tang Clan song, Los Angeles-born artist Marquis Lewis has made quite a name for himself in the world of street art. His rise came during the mid-1990s as he began painting murals on walls, trains and freeway overpasses throughout the city using a series of symbols inspired by a mixture of ancient Incan and Egyptian hieroglyphics, Arabic, Hebrew, and Asian caligraphy and graffiti. For “Art in the Streets,” the MOCA has chosen to feature some of Retna’s more popular works.
Photography: Brandon Shigeta
