Marc Phillips Commissions Graffiti Artist Retna for a Limited-Edition Rug Collection
When Bobby Partial met Retna, the Marc Phillips founding partner immediately envisioned the graffiti artist, otherwise known as Marquis Lewis, portraying his streetwise swagger through rugs. “I begged him for a year to collaborate,” Partial recalls. Ultimately Lewis relented, and their business arrangement evolved into friendship. The artist even painted a two-story mural on the facade of the manufacturer’s Los Angeles showroom. Four years later, the two decided that a follow-up was overdue. Hand-knotted in Nepal, 16 limited-edition designs, all variations on a theme, have grounds walking a fine line between graphic and typographic. Wool and silk mingle in Resurrect White Black, 8 by 10 feet, and Resurrect Multi Blue, 8 by 101⁄2. Texture Fill Resurrect Pink, 9 by 12, is all wool.
