This May, the language of silence speaks louder than ever before. Mash Gallery presents “Silence Decoded,” a powerful solo exhibition by globally acclaimed artist RETNA (Marquis Lewis), opening May 16, 2025, at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. Known for his complex visual script that transcends language, RETNA invites viewers into a meditative, mysterious space where the absence of words becomes the source of deepest expression.
RETNA has become a towering figure in contemporary art for his singular calligraphic style—a hybrid of ancient alphabets, urban graffiti, and sacred symbology. Drawing from Egyptian hieroglyphics, Arabic, Hebrew, Gothic, and even Asian calligraphy, RETNA creates a script that is not meant to be read but felt. His symbols seem both familiar and unknowable, drawing viewers into a silent dialogue that transcends culture, time, and geography. RETNA aims to create a visual language that resonates across cultures—one that feels familiar and meaningful to viewers regardless of whether they can interpret the symbols literally.
In “Silence Decoded,” these signature forms are brought into conversation with the very idea of silence: how it holds truth, protects emotion, and invites introspection.
Set within the architectural grandeur of the Pacific Design Center, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience RETNA’s work at an intimate distance, but on a monumental scale. The industrial strength of his aesthetic—often seen on towering walls from Miami to Moscow—here becomes personal, immersive, and quietly transformative.
Curated by Mash Gallery founder Haleh Mashian, known for her deep engagement with color, abstraction, and meaning, Silence Decoded is more than an art show. It’s an installation of emotion and rhythm, designed to shift energy the moment you step into the room.
In a time defined by information overload, the exhibition dares to turn the volume down. It’s not just about what we see—but what we don’t say.
RETNA’s script becomes the perfect metaphor: it challenges comprehension, offering instead an emotional resonance. The viewer becomes the translator, invited to bring their own meaning into the artwork. Each symbol is like a note in a silent symphony, coded and complex, demanding both patience and presence.
Whether you’re drawn to the work’s spiritual undertones, its urban grit, or its intricate design, there’s no passive viewing here. RETNA’s art requires attention—and in return, it offers a deeper kind of communication.
RETNA’s work has adorned walls across the globe and collaborated with brands like Louis Vuitton and VistaJet. But exhibitions of this caliber—curated with intention and presented in a space built for design-forward impact—are rare.
For Los Angeles collectors, creatives, and cultural thinkers, Silence Decoded is an opportunity to engage with RETNA’s art in a setting where its dualities—chaotic and sacred, global and local, ancient and futuristic—can be fully felt. In Silence Decoded, RETNA doesn’t just show us art—he shows us ourselves. Our desire to understand, to connect, and to assign meaning where there is none. This is art as a mirror, as a riddle, as a refuge.
Join us for a night of bold visuals and quiet revelations.
Venue:
Pacific Design Center – Blue Building
8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Opening Night:
May 16, 2025 | 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Admission:
Free & open to the public
Born in 1979 in Los Angeles, RETNA (Marquis Lewis) first gained prominence as a street artist in the late 1990s, a member of the influential graffiti crew MSK. His name—taken from a lyric in a Wu-Tang Clan song—became synonymous with large-scale murals that blend ancient text forms with contemporary style. Over time, his work moved from alleyways to auction houses, appearing in solo shows, major collaborations, and museum collections worldwide.
His art is not merely visual—it’s visceral. Each piece is a coded journal of emotion, spirituality, and cultural identity.
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