Vhils × Retna Collaboration

Vhils' carved portrait and RETNA's calligraphic script share this Echo Park wall, built through opposing methods: Vhils cuts his image out of the surface, while RETNA layers his script over it in paint. Made in Los Angeles in 2018, the mural coincided with Vhils' solo exhibition Annihilation, then on view in the city. The collaboration makes the artists' differences its subject, so each gesture stays legible on its own while changing how the other is read.