**This is an absolutely stunning *RETNA* original.**

*APC ART is pleased to present “Kind of Blue II,” a powerful and highly expressive original painting by RETNA (Marquis Lewis). Executed in watercolor on wove paper at the artist’s Santa Fe Avenue studio in Los Angeles in 2021, this unique work measures 44 × 30 inches and stands as a compelling example of the artist’s distinctive calligraphic abstraction.*

*RETNA, born Marquis Lewis in Los Angeles, is internationally recognized as one of the most important figures to emerge from the contemporary urban art movement. His work is defined by a highly sophisticated symbolic language known as “Margraves,” a script developed by the artist over many years that merges visual influences from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, Arabic calligraphy, Hebrew lettering, Gothic blackletter, and modern graffiti.*

*The Margraves language is not merely decorative; it represents a personal and evolving written system — a form of visual poetry that transforms language into pure abstraction. Each character carries the precision of calligraphy while retaining the gestural immediacy of graffiti, creating compositions that feel simultaneously ancient and radically contemporary.*

*“Kind of Blue II” captures RETNA’s practice in its most fluid and painterly form. Executed in layered tones of luminous blue, the sweeping gestures and overlapping strokes reveal the artist’s hand with striking immediacy. The watercolor medium allows the script to dissolve and reform across the surface, producing a sense of motion, rhythm, and depth that recalls both traditional calligraphy and Abstract Expressionist painting.*

*The title itself subtly references the legendary Miles Davis album “Kind of Blue,” evoking the improvisational spirit of jazz — a fitting parallel to RETNA’s intuitive and rhythmic mark-making. The composition feels spontaneous yet deliberate, with each gesture contributing to the overall cadence of the work.*

*Works executed in RETNA’s Santa Fe Avenue studio hold particular importance within his career. Located in the heart of Los Angeles’s historic Arts District, the studio served as the epicenter of the artist’s creative output during a pivotal period in which his work was gaining increasing international recognition.*

*RETNA’s career has been marked by both extraordinary artistic success and well-documented personal struggles. While his monumental murals and studio works have been exhibited globally and collected by prominent collectors, the artist has also faced personal challenges that have shaped the narrative surrounding his practice. For many collectors, this duality — the tension between brilliance and adversity — contributes to the mythos and cultural significance surrounding the artist and his work.*

*Despite these challenges, RETNA’s influence on contemporary visual culture remains undeniable. His monumental murals have appeared across major cities worldwide, and his studio works are held in significant private collections internationally. The Margraves script itself has become one of the most recognizable visual languages in contemporary art.*

*As a fully unique 1/1 painting, “Kind of Blue II” represents the most desirable category within RETNA’s oeuvre: an original hand-executed work that captures the immediacy and emotional intensity of the artist’s process.*

*With the market for important contemporary street and urban artists continuing to mature, exceptional unique works by RETNA — particularly large-scale studio paintings such as this — are increasingly viewed as compelling acquisitions for both collectors and investors.*

*APC ART is pleased to offer museum-quality archival framing options to ensure the long-term preservation and elegant presentation of this important work.*

*A striking and highly collectible original RETNA — expressive, culturally significant, and an outstanding investment-level work by one of the defining artists of contemporary urban art.*

*OFFERED EXCLUSIVELY BY APC ART* 
*MIA • ATL • NYC • LA • LONDON • PARIS • TOKYO*

Provenance

Purchased direct from the artist at his Santa Fe Ave Studio in 2022. 

Private collection; Los Angeles, CA, USA. 
Private collection; Austin, TX, USA. 

Included with the work will be a COA from APC ART (with the gallery’s blind stamp), guaranteeing authenticity in perpetuity. 

Condition

Shows incredibly well. STUNNING RETNA.Any imperfections (smudges, small marks, small punctures) are part of the artist’s creative process.