Street Artist RETNA Gets Some Tail As He Hand Paints A $60 Million Vista Jet.

As part of a partnership with VistaJet & Bombardier Aerospace, 31 year old Los Angeles street artist RETNA has hand-painted a unique artwork on the tail of a VistaJet Global Express XRS as part of his Hallelujah World Tour.






Those familiar with RETNA's work will recognize the iconic styled heiroglyphics which he uses in much of his art, as shown in the multiple examples of his work below:








This $60,000,000 luxury aircraft will be the star of VistaJet’s fleet of 31 private jets. Drawing from a wide array of influences including the Old English style of gang graffiti writings, Asian calligraphy, Incan & Egyptian hieroglyphics, Hebrew and Arabic, RETNA’s vision manifests as an international visual language all his own.




At EBACE 2011, the premier aviation show in Geneva, May 17 - 19, RETNA will officially launch his artistic vocabulary over 50,000 feet above ground.

VistaJet and RETNA is a new partnership that begun with VistaJet’s and Bombardier’s sponsorship of RETNA’s “Hallelujah World Tour,” presented by Andy Valmorbida and Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, which launched in New York in February and will continue throughout the year in cities including London and Hong Kong.



Retna, whose real name is Marquis Lewis, comes from a graffiti background. The nom de plume – derived from a Raekwon song – was originally given to a friend. “I gave him a sketch, and he went and battled some dude and he lost,” Retna said previously in an interview with Upper Playground. “He wasn’t even supposed to battle anyone anyway with my sketch that I gave him. And on top of that he lost, so that really pissed me off, so I took the name back.”

Over the past few years, Retna has been known less for his graffiti pieces than a unique written language derived from various ancient scripts.



“It draws on Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Mayan glyphs, as well as Mexican and pre-Columbian heritage,” Jeffrey Deitch, director of MoCA in Los Angeles, said. “He filters those traditions through the tradition of tagging and graffiti that has been seen in Los Angeles since the 1970s. Within these traditions, he has come up with something entirely his own.”

The New York exhibition, The Hallelujah World Tour (Venice and London are the two other stops) is Retna’s biggest show to date.

Images courtesy of Bombardier and RETNA

Move Over Rascal, Pegasus Is Here. Introducing The Porsche Of Wheelchairs.

If I ever need a wheelchair, I want the Porsche of wheelchairs!

Pegasus is an alternative solution to the current manually operated wheelchairs for paraplegic people. Unfortunately more often and not a person in a wheelchair is viewed internationally as a symbol for disability. A lot of wheelchair drivers do not feel disabled and experience similar dimensions to ordinary people. The intension of Pegasus is to break with the image and appearance of current wheelchairs. Pegasus allows an efficient movement in an upright position. A manual actuation in combination with an electric drive motor with gyroscopic sensors (segway inspired) allow the driver to maneuver in very small distance.




Unfortunately, there's limited data on this new wheelchair, but we hope it makes the jump from drawing board to market shelves quickly!

Help Beautify San Francisco: Pick Their New Bus Shelters!

If you're like many designers (or simply like those who notice and appreciate design), you may find yourself walking through cities complimenting or insulting public architecture like park benches, kiosks and bus shelters.

Well, here's your chance to be heard (by more than just the dog you are walking or by your best friend)and quite possibly, make a difference. You can actually help the City By The Bay (San Francisco) choose the latest design for their city bus shelters, both commercial and non-commercial. All you have to do is go to their site (http://www.sfmta.com/shelters) to see the candidate's designs and vote.


The SFMTA would like your feedback on the transit shelter models that they are considering. Go to their site to comment on any of the individual model shelters below in the spaces provided.

At the end, they will ask you for your most and least favorite designs.

Here are just a few of the options:







The SFMTA would like your feedback on the transit shelter models that they are considering. Go to their site to comment on any of the individual model shelters below in the spaces provided.