MÓYÒSÓRÉ MARTINS (B. 1986)
Móyòsóré Martins, a self-taught mixed-media artist, channels his deeply curious and spiritual nature through his work. Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, with a Brazilian father and a Nigerian mother from Ekiti state, Martins picked up a paintbrush and pencil early on. He merges his traditional Yoruba heritage with a modern perspective, creating art that seamlessly blends figurative, abstract, and narrative elements. His pieces are a reflection of his unique life journey, from his Nigerian roots to his Bronx studio.
Martins’ artwork is steeped in symbolism, often incorporating cultural and personal icons that tell his story. His vibrant canvases are rich in texture, featuring bold brushstrokes, thick layers of oil paint, intricate drawings, scribbles, collaged materials, and text. Each piece is a dynamic fusion of spiritual themes and manifested wishes. Beyond painting, he extends his creativity to three-dimensional works using found objects and mixed media, bringing his vivid narratives to life in new and unexpected ways. As Martins describes:
My artwork is intentionally raw. I like to use a lot of different materials and have rough-cut edges on the canvas. The paintings are textured with scratches, scribbles, and mud-like paint, as well as clay, liquid plastic, oil sticks, chunky layers of oil paint. I layer the background and then deconstruct them, which gives the feeling of wear and tear on the canvas. No painting is alike as each has symbolic patterns and encrypted messages hidden within it. I want to merge the vision with the given and the new world that I live in now. The word “Why?” is seen in a lot of the work because it leaves you asking the same question.
Forbidden by his father to create or study art, Martins spent his college years in Ghana and the Ivory Coast studying computer science. He immigrated to New York City in 2015 to pursue his artistic ambitions. Martins’ artwork has been exhibited at the Nassau County Museum (Roslyn, NY), Galerie Olivier Varenne (Geneva, Switzerland), TANG Contemporary (Hong Kong), Crossing Art (New York, NY), Galerie Tanit (Beirut), Long-Sharp Gallery (Indiannapolis, IN), Robert Fontaine Gallery (Miami, FL), Path Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), and TrafficArts (New York, NY).
Móyòsóré Martins, April 2024
Arms Around The Child Artists Artist Residency
Senya Beraku, Ghana
EXHIBITIONS
2024 MÓYÒSÓRÉ MARTINS | Paris | Oct. 16-Nov. 15 | TRAFFICARTS, with the kind support of Jerome Neutres, Aurore Blanc, and Asher & Michelle Edelman | Oct. 16—Nov. 15th
2024 MÓYÒSÓRÉ MARTINS: Through the Light | Olivier Varenne Gallery, Geneva | Sept. 11th—Nov. 2nd
2024 Arms Around The Child Foundation, Ghana (Artist in residency)
2024 TANG Contemporary | Group Show | Hong Kong
2023 Scope Miami | Mitochondria Gallery
2023 Art Shenzhen | Crossing Art | Shenzhen, China
2023 Butter | Indiannapolis, ID
2023 Robert Fontaine Gallery | Portraits in Focus | Group Show | Miami, FL
2023 Robert Fontaine Gallery | Intimate | Group Show | Miami, FL
2023 Solo Exhibition | Crossing Art | The Artist Journey | New York, NY
2023 Beijing Contemporary Art Fair | Crossing Art
2022 Beverly Hills Art Exchange | Group Show | San Francisco, CA
2022 Art Miami | Long-Sharp Gallery | Miami, FL
2022 Solo Exhibition: Long-Sharp Gallery | Indiannapolis, ID
2022 Butter | Indiannapolis, ID
2021 Nassau County Museum, Songs Without Words: The Art of Music | Roslyn, NY
2021 Path Gallery | Los Angeles, CA
2021 Long-Sharp Gallery | Conrad Indianapolis | Featured Artist | Indiannapolis, ID
2021 TrafficArts | New York, NY
2019 Dacia Gallery, Holiday Group Exhibition | New York, NY
2018 Heath Gallery | New York, NY
2017 Grady Alexis Gallery | Art United Presents: Radical Resistance to Xenophobia | New York, NY
PUBLICATIONS
Forbes, October, 2024
WWD, 2024
ModaCulture 2024
Daily Trust 2024
Afrotique 2024
Art Basel News 2024
Whitehot Magazine, The Vibrant Paintings of Moyosore Martins, 2023
Forbes, Móyòsóré Martins Solo Show, June 2023
Flaunt, Móyòsóré Martins: The Artist Journey, June 2023
Artnet News-Buyers Guide Spotlight, 2023
Artnet News, Art Collectors, 2023
Forbes, Sotheby’s Contemporary Discoveries, 2023
NY Magazine/Curbed, 2022
Pattern Magazine, 2022
Considering Art Podcast, 2022
Yahoo News, 2022
WRTV, 2022
Forbes 2021
Portray Magazine 2021
Office Magazine 2021
Art Daily 2021
Móyòsóré Martins Shows Up to Paint, Podcast with Asher Gottesman, 2021
Forbes, 2019
Asiri Magazine, 2017
Instagram: @moysoremartins1910
https://www.traffic-nyc.com/artists/ moyosore-martins
Follow The Light You Seek, 2023 Oil, oil stick, pigments, graphite on canvas 250 x 172 cm (98.5 x 68 in.)
“Móyòsóré Martins embodies a rare and precious figure of the visual artist: the one making art as a vital necessity, and not a bohemian pastime. From Nigeria to Bronx, New York, where I met him. Moyosore’s paintings speak to us about the true way of the world: a world and an art made of migration, crossing the boundaries to exist, mixing cultures to invent a new one.
Recently back to Ghana, where he studied, Moyosore experienced the fascinating and sometimes challenging return to the original roots. His latest works, presented in Paris, testify to this exceptional journey across the two worlds of the artist, where art becomes the only way to create a symbiosis between them.
—Jerome Neutres
Móyòsóré Martins bridges abstract, figurative, and iconographic symbolism. He expresses the beauty in the figure and the depth of its subject; he obsesses with a cartoon-like character that imbues his personal iconography and that has a deep symbolic meaning. His approach is narrative and realistic in the early works, returning to his childhood memories. African artifacts present themselves consistently throughout and is spiritually meaningful in his work. He is fascinated with contemporary plastic toy statues and collectibles from artists like Kaws, representing everything different in juxtaposition to the traditional Yaruba figures. A seminal character seen throughout his work, the “Watchman,” resonates as a study of the Yaruba figure and is interpreted by Martins as the man taking on his destiny, with a nod to his experience while employed as a night watchman in the Bronx—a lasting impression.
Martins expresses the emotion of the characters he deftly paints, the backgrounds layered, manipulated, scratched, and then infused with text. He places himself in the canvas, in the artwork, both in spirit and name, even his birthdate. He scribbles words, mathematical formulas, mantras, and prayers. He visually expresses his internal conversation, which shifts as his world does—as a visual biography. He resists being put in a box. His unique use of materials and story is the cord that ties his work together.
“For me, this painting is very serious. While creating it, I was experiencing a deep and stressful moment. I was going through my naturalization test to obtain my US citizenship. I was struggling to retain information, because my mind was completely consumed by my work. This painting became my outlet. It reflects a sense of glory and success, symbolizing my newfound freedom. The yellow card represents my identity and signifies my life, reminding me that with every achievement there’s always more ahead. The figure of the man portrays vulnerability, showing that despite my success, there were obstacles—like traveling and being truly free. It’s the paradox of feeling free, yet not entirely liberated. The blues and blue-and-white stripes is the traditional royal attire, signifying rank and importance, indicating that I am not just an ordinary person, but someone of significance. For me it also symbolizes freedom.”
239 x 199 cm (94 x 78 in.) each
239 x 597 cm (94 x 235 in.) total
Móyòsóré Martins delves into his personal and artistic evolution with his monumental triptych titled AH!. The title ends with a hard “h,” evoking a sense of shock, as in, “I can’t believe this is happening!” This work captures the internal struggle and conflict he faces, with each character in the painting representing a facet of himself. The symbolic act of self-destruction depicted reflects his shedding of an old identity, symbolizing a transformative journey of self-reinvention. For Moyo, this piece serves as his own version of Guernica—except the war he portrays is the battle within himself.
Móyòsóré Martins exhalts the tradition of the Abstract Expressionist painters—the beginning. Figurative and conceptualist elements then take the stage. Hatching, hard-handed distress brings the work together in harmony and depth— Móyòsóré’s own total.
— Asher Edelman
A Lot of Nothing, 2024 Oil, oil sticks, pigments, and graphite on canvas
180 x 150 cm (72 x 60 in.)
“Móyòsóré Martins transforms the canvas into a mirror reflecting both the struggles and hopes of today’s young generation. Straddling the line between figuration and abstraction, Martins’ visual identity resonates with trends I have seen in contemporary Asian art. Like many young Asian artists, Martins explores his cultural heritage while pushing traditional boundaries. Each piece makes visible and palpable the intensity of the gestures that bring it to life: speed, tension, impulse, violence. His characters explode with grace, but this only makes them more free and dangerous.”
—Aurore Blanc
The meaning of title Enitan is someone who was born with a strong story. Someone who was never meant to be here, but came. Someone who they saw his stars before he was conceived. That’s who I am.
Oil, oil stick, pigments, and charcoal on canvas
61 x 46 cm (24 x 18 in.) each
122 x 91 cm (48 x 36 in.) total
These two pieces belong to a series in which the artist transforms his “Watchman” character into a vibrant and colorful form, radiating joy. The character represents an evolution of the original Watchman, now infused with energy and life. The eyes in the upper left corner symbolize the growing recognition of his work, as more people see and connect with it. The large mouth signifies conversations and dialogue surrounding his art. Scribbles and scratches represent wishes and manifestations, echoing the sense of urgency and immediacy with phrases like “Now, now, now—the
time is now, it’s happening now.” The inclusion of “1986” marks the year of the artist’s birth, grounding the work in his personal narrative.
“The meaning of A Little Bit of Hubris, 2023, is a state of knowing myself. When you practice something every day you can nearly do it in your sleep. It’s about pride, but also it’s knowing and having the confidence in yourself, so it becomes part of you. When I was making these pieces, they were created with such ease and confidence. So I had a little bit of hubris.”
“Foreseeing, 2023 is about my knowing things before they happen. It’s when you have worked on yourself so much that you naturally see things before they happen. You are in a state where you receive frequencies more fluidly. The brightness and contrast between the colors is joyful. I’m feeling more fluid, using single strokes. It’s that state of comfort with the work. I’m in a trance. I don’t think, I just paint.”
This painting depicts a tribal artifact which is used for protection. It’s intension is to repel evil and transform it into good.
The “hungry cat” appears consistently throughout Móyòsóré’s work. It represents his own hunger as an artist. Hunger for success, hunger for growth. A hunger so strong that one feels the painting’s visceral energy. The eyes growing bigger and bigger as he feels his increased exposure.
— Michelle Edelman
61 x 46 cm (24 x 18 in.) each
Raw Thoughts, Studies, 2023
VII, VIII, IX, XIII (from top-left to bottom-right)
“Seeing is believing. As an artist I have so many people who look to me. Not many are privileged to the life I have. Even back home I was always privileged. I never take that for granted. I’ve seen poverty. People are really suffering. I am very grateful. My achievements are for us all. Everyone is watching me. Sometimes it feels like a lot.
Being an artist plays the added expectation for success, for fulfilling the path, for taking the journey.”
— Moyosore Martins
In April and May of 2024, Moyosore Martins was invited by the Arms Around the Child Foundation to participate in an artist residency in Senya Beraku, Ghana. This residency marked a significant step in Martins’ journey of self-discovery and connection with others, as he returned to his university roots in Ghana. After spending nearly a decade in the U.S., Martins reflects on how his accomplishments and dedication have come full circle, allowing him to give back to the community where his artistic path first began.
IV—Filtration, 2024
Oil, oil stick, pigments, charcoal on canvas
202 x 237 cm (79.5 X 93.3 in.)
Next page:
II, 2024
Oil, oil stick, pigments, charcoal on canvas
200.66 X 251.46 cm (79 X 99 in.)
“The work I created was inspired by being present at the school in Ghana—in that very moment. Seeing things beyond myself. It’s about all the things the children lacked, like water, bedsheets, plates, cups, everything. The ability to step out of my own bubble and seeing what the kids need and that I could make a difference.”
— Moyo
“We are deeply grateful for the partnership with Móyòsóré Martins and the profound impact he created through the Arms Around The Child Artists Residency in Senya Beraku. Moyo not only shared his remarkable talents with the children but also spent valuable time creating his own work, which inspired everyone at the Christian Atsu Education Centre. His presence brought a unique energy to the school, where art became a powerful tool for the children to express themselves, build confidence, and connect with their community. The time he invested in engaging with the children has left a lasting impression, empowering them to believe in their potential and the value of their stories. Moyo’s contributions are a vital part of our mission to provide safety, education, and hope for the vulnerable children we serve. His residency has helped us continue to nurture a brighter future for the children and the entire community of Senya Beraku and the work of Arms Around The Child.”
— Ellie Milner
https://armsaroundthechild.org/
This painting captures the artist’s perception of himself as the young Moyo, embodying a sense of lightheartedness. It includes inscriptions and expressions of his aspirations, with a triangle representing protection and his birth year inscribed in the lower right corner. The artwork offers a hopeful vision of the future.
