Los Angeles has always communicated visually.

Long before graffiti became a global movement, long before street art entered galleries and museums, the city was already marked by language — written, painted, documented, and lived. Names on walls, symbols of belonging, neighbourhood identity, and cultural codes formed a visual system rooted in place and community.

‘LOS ANGELES: A VISUAL LINEAGE’ brings together four defining voices whose work collectively shapes the cultural, historical, and visual identity of Los Angeles: Chaz Bojórquez, DEFER, Estevan Oriol, and RETNA.

This exhibition traces the evolution of the city’s unique visual language — from its early handstyle traditions to contemporary abstraction, and the photographic documentation that grounds it in lived reality. Rather than isolating individual practices, the exhibition presents Los Angeles as a continuous cultural ecosystem, shaped by environment, history, and lived experience.

The concept of lineage sits at the heart of this exhibition.

Not a hierarchy.

Not a sequence of “before” and “after.”

Instead, ‘LOS ANGELES: A VISUAL LINEAGE’ explores a continuum — a cultural thread connecting generations, styles, and creative approaches, all rooted in the same environment. Each artist occupies an equally important position within that lineage, contributing a distinct evolution of a shared visual language.

Los Angeles differs from other cities in how its culture is formed. Sprawling, decentralised, and deeply shaped by migration, neighbourhood identity, and subcultures, the city’s visual language did not emerge from institutions first. It emerged from the street, from lived environments, and from communities asserting presence and authorship.

This exhibition recognises that reality.

At its core, ‘LOS ANGELES: A VISUAL LINEAGE’ charts the transformation of visual language.

The exhibition begins with handstyle — the earliest recognised expressions of written identity in Los Angeles — and follows its evolution through graffiti, abstraction, and documentation.

These forms are not separate disciplines, but interconnected expressions of the same cultural impulse.

Handstyle becomes graffiti.
Graffiti becomes abstraction.
Abstraction is contextualised through documentation.

Together, they form a visual continuum that defines the city.

Chaz Bojórquez represents one of the earliest recognised expressions of Los Angeles handstyle and neighbourhood identity.

Emerging from East Los Angeles, his work predates graffiti as a defined global movement. Long before spray cans, crews, or fame economies, writing already existed as cultural language — names, symbols, and lettering marking presence, belonging, and respect.

His work reflects the origins — the cultural markings that informed the city’s earliest visual codes and shaped what followed.

Formally trained and deeply influenced by typography and calligraphy, Bojórquez approached writing as language rather than rebellion. The street was not an act of opposition to art, but another surface for it. His practice established a visual grammar that would quietly inform generations of writers and artists.

Within ‘LOS ANGELES: A VISUAL LINEAGE’, Bojórquez represents the foundation — the roots of the city’s visual language.

DEFER and RETNA stand as parallel pioneering forces within the Los Angeles graffiti movement.

Emerging from the respected K2S and MSK crews respectively, both artists played crucial roles in evolving Los Angeles street culture from the streets into galleries and museums. Each inherited the same foundational language, yet pushed it forward in distinct and influential directions.

Their practices demonstrate how lineage functions — not through imitation, but through evolution.

DEFER transformed the language into a fluid, meditative, abstract form — a contemporary expression merging graffiti, calligraphy, and spiritual energy.

His work moves beyond legibility. Rather than focusing on words, DEFER prioritises rhythm, movement, and internal expression. The marks become gestures; the compositions become emotional states translated into visual form.

This transformation is central to the exhibition’s narrative. DEFER represents a moment within the lineage where inherited visual language becomes introspective — where the city’s codes are filtered through the artist’s internal world while remaining rooted in street-based origins.

His work bridges graffiti and contemporary abstraction without losing authenticity, demonstrating how Los Angeles visual culture continues to evolve while honouring its foundations.

RETNA developed his own global script, expanding Los Angeles’ visual vocabulary and projecting it onto the international stage.

Drawing from ancient writing systems, religious texts, and global calligraphic traditions, RETNA codified the inherited language into a system that is both precise and expansive. His work balances legibility and abstraction, structure and chaos.

RETNA’s practice reflects Los Angeles as a global city — one that absorbs influences, synthesises cultures, and exports its visual identity worldwide. His work demonstrates how local language becomes global dialogue.

Within ‘LOS ANGELES: A VISUAL LINEAGE’, RETNA represents expansion — the point at which the city’s visual codes extend beyond geography while remaining unmistakably Los Angeles in spirit.

DEFER and RETNA represent distinct evolutions.

Different languages.
Different visual systems.

Yet both are integral developments within the same lineage, each epitomising the infamous Los Angeles style. Their inclusion side by side reinforces the exhibition’s core principle: lineage is not about uniformity, but continuity.

Estevan Oriol anchors the exhibition by documenting the culture that all three artists come from.

His photography captures the people, the streets, the attitude, and the lived environment that gave rise to Los Angeles’ visual identity. From neighbourhoods and communities to moments of everyday life, Oriol’s work serves as visual testimony.

Within ‘LOS ANGELES: A VISUAL LINEAGE’, Oriol plays a critical role. His images ground the exhibition in reality, reminding viewers that visual language does not exist in isolation. It is born from people, places, and lived experience.

Through Oriol’s lens, the lineage becomes not only stylistic, but human — allowing viewers to understand Los Angeles not just visually, but emotionally.

Together, these four artists create a complete portrait of Los Angeles.

A city defined by its visual codes.
A culture shaped by its streets.
A lineage carried forward by artists who turned their environment into language.

This exhibition does not present Los Angeles as a backdrop. It presents the city as an active force — shaping, informing, and sustaining one of the world’s most influential visual cultures.

Presented at Woodbury House, ‘LOS ANGELES: A VISUAL LINEAGE’ marks a landmark moment for London audiences.

For the first time, the works of Chaz Bojórquez, DEFER, Estevan Oriol, and RETNA are presented together under one roof, offering a rare opportunity to engage with Los Angeles visual culture as a cohesive narrative — one grounded in authenticity, history, and artistic evolution.

From handstyle and painting to photographic documentation, ‘LOS ANGELES: A VISUAL LINEAGE’ positions Los Angeles not as a trend, but as a source.

‘LOS ANGELES: A VISUAL LINEAGE’
27th February – 24th April 2026

Woodbury House
29 Sackville Street
Mayfair, London W1S 3DX

Private View: Thursday, 26th February 2026 (by invitation only)

To be among the first to receive further details regarding the Private View, available works, or the exhibition catalogue, please register your interest below.

https://woodburyhouseart.com/los-angeles-a-visual-lineage-register-interest/