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. The African statue is increasingly present and 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 work, “Watchman,” resonates; the painting is 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.

MÓYÒSÓRÉ MARTINS (NIGERIAN, B. 1986)

Móyòsóré Martins is a self-taught mixed-media artist. Raised in Lagos, Nigeria by a Brazilian father and a Nigerian mother from Ekiti state, Martins adopted a paintbrush and pencil at a young age as instruments to express his innately curious and spiritual nature. Through his work, Martins blends his traditional Yoruba cultural roots with his contemporary vision of art.

Martins’s artwork combines figurative, abstract, and narrative elements drawn from his unique life experience and journey from Nigeria to his large Bronx studio. His work is deeply symbolic and frequently features cultural and personal iconography. Martins’s richly textured paintings feature bold brushstrokes, thick oil paint, drawings, scribbles, collaged materials, and text. The vibrant, heavily layered canvases are interspersed with spiritual elements and wishes manifested and fulfilled. Martins also works in three-dimensional form with clay sculpture. 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 further pursue his artistic ambitions. Martins’ artwork has been exhibited at the Nassau County Museum (Roslyn, NY), TrafficArts (New York, NY), Long-Sharp Gallery (Indiannapolis, IN), Path Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), Dacia Gallery (New York, NY), Heath Gallery (New York, NY), and Grady Alexis Gallery (New York, NY).

Artist Journey (Dyptich)

2023

Oil, oil stick, pigment, and charcoal on canvas

103 x 72 in. (257 x 180 cm) each

103 x 144 in. (257 x 360 cm) total (unstretched)

Exhibitions

2023 Solo Exhibition | Crossing Art | The Artist Journey | New York, NY

2022 Beverly Hills Art Exchange, Group Show | San Francisco, CA

2022 Art Miami, Long-Sharp Gallery

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

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

Press Links: Forbes 2023

Instagram: @moysoremartins1910

Enu Ebi (Hungry Mouth)

2023

Oil and oil stick on canvas, pigment, and graphite on canvas

72 x 60 in. (180 x 150 cm)

Raw Thoughts, Studies I, II, III (Triptych) 2023

Oil, oil stick, pigment, and charcoal on canvas, mounted on board 14 x 16 in. (35 x 40 cm) each

Raw Thoughts, Studies IV, 2023

Oil, oil stick, pigment, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board

14 x 16 in. (35 x 40 cm)

Raw Thoughts, Studies V, 2023

Oil, oil stick, pigment, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 14 x 16 in. (35 x 40 cm)

Raw Thoughts, Studies VI, 2023

Oil, oil stick, pigment, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board

14 x 18 in. (35 x 45 cm)

Raw Thoughts, Studies IX, 2023

Oil, oil stick, pigment, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 14 x 16 in. (35 x 45 cm)

Raw Thoughts, Studies

EGO II

2021

Mixed media on plexiglass (Oil, oil stick, pigments, ink, graphite, and collage)

Painted on both sides

52 x 50 in. (130 x 125 cm)

*Measurement without frame

This series, entitled “Expansion,” reflects Martins’ feelings about his increased exposure and the expansion of both his internal and external worlds. Each element is meaningful. In the painting on the following page, entitled Expansion IV, he presents the man in the purest sense of himself— surrounded by blossoming flowers—all growing and expanding.

Oil, oil stick, pigments, and charcoal on canvas

2022

Oil, oil stick, pigments, and charcoal on canvas

48 x 72 in. (120 x 180 cm) each

96 x 72 in. (240 x 180 cm) total

2023

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

Expansion IX

2022

Oil, oil stick, pigments, and charcoal on canvas

48 x 60 in. (120 x 150 cm)

Dues Dues, 2023 Mixed media collage, oil, acrylic and graphite on cardboard 48 x 72 in. (120 x 180 cm)

Erin Aro (The Morning Laugh)

2022

Oil, oil stick, pigment, and charcoal on canvas

60 x 48 in. (150 x 120 cm)

“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 took that for granted. I saw poverty. People are really suffering. I have always been very grateful. All 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

Study for Attestation (Vouch) 2022

Oil, oil stick, pigment, charcoal, and collage on canvas

72 x 60 in. (180 x 150 cm)