Móyòsóré Martins (alias Móyò) is a New York-based Nigerian contemporary artist taking the art world by storm. A true renaissance man, he excels in graphics, product design, and music. Móyò’s paintings are profoundly narrative and embody his personal journey. He embodies his traditional Afro-cultural, spiritual roots and fashion-forward sense of aesthetics.

Born of Brazilian descent with both parents from Ekiti state, Nigeria, Móyò developed a sense of mixed cultural independence from his family’s tribal roots and developed his artistic vision from his travels and upbringing. Inspired by the streets of London and New York, his college years in Ghana and Ivory Coast blend into his artwork while expressing his Yoruban cultural roots. Móyò is self-taught and is primarily influenced by his internal vision and not necessarily by other artists. For him, his work is spiritual in nature and represents his wishes and dreams and his path forward.

Móyò 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 iconography and that has a deep symbolic meaning. His approach is narrative and realistic in his early works, returning to his childhood memories. The African statue is always 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 Móyò 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.

Móyò 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, 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. As his craft and career expand, he looks back, reflecting on his path and where he has come from, both as a person and artistically. Entrenched with personal symbolism, every element of a painting has a purpose and a specific meaning to him, much like a morse code. The eyes symbolize his own spiritual “all-seeing”; the clusters of floating eyeballs represent a feeling that all eyes are on him, being “seen,” his work being seen. The mouth, large and slightly aggressive, describes the intensity of the experience of people talking about him. The etched words are like a mantra to manifest his vision.

Over the past four years, demand for his work has steadily increased, driven by his growing collector base and expanding gallery representation.

Selected Exhibitions:

·   2025

An upcoming solo show at Pulp Gallery, Staffelsee, Germany, scheduled for October

·   2024

“Móyòsóré Martins”, TrafficArts in collaboration with curators Jerome Neutres and Aurore Blanc, Paris, France (Solo Show)

“Through the Light”, Olivier Varenne Art Moderne & Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland (Solo Show)

“Arms Around The Child Foundation” Artists in Residency, Accra, Ghana

“Art Basel Hong Kong” – Art Fair, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong, China (Group Show)

·   2023

“SCOPE Miami Art Show” – Art Fair, Mitochondria Gallery, Miami, USA (Group Show)

“Now, They Now”, Galerie Tanit X Teal Contemporary, Beirut, Lebanon (Solo Show)

“Art Shenzhen” – Art Fair, Crossing Art, Shenzhen, China (Group Show)

“Butter” –  Art Fair, Long-Sharp Gallery, Indianapolis, USA (Group Show)

“Portraits in Focus”, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, USA (Group Show)

“The Artist Journey”, Crossing Art, New York, USA (Solo Show)

“Intimate”, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, USA (Group Show)

“Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary” – Art Fair, Long-Sharp Gallery, Palm Beach, USA (Group Show)

·   2022

“Art Miami” – Art Fair, Long-Sharp Gallery, Miami, USA (Group Show)

““Butter 2” –  Art Fair, Long-Sharp Gallery, Indianapolis, USA (Group Show)

“The Soul of African Diaspora”, Beverly Hills Art Exchange, San Francisco, USA (Group Show)

“Móyòsóré Martins : Seen”, Long-Sharp Gallery, Indianapolis, USA (Solo Show)

·   2021

“Songs Without Words: The Art of Music”,  Nassau County Museum, Roslyn, USA (Group Show)

“IRÁNTI (Nostalgia)”, Path Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (Solo Show)

“Art Stays Here”, Long-Sharp Gallery, art rotating program with Conrad Hotel, Indianapolis, USA (Featured Artist)

“Móyòsóré Martins”, TrafficArt, New York, NY (Solo Show)

·   2019

“Holiday Exhibition”, Dacia Gallery, New York, USA (Group Show)

·   2018

Heath Gallery, New York, USA (Group Show)

·   2017

“Radical Resistance to Xenophobia”, Grady Alexis Gallery, New York, USA (Group Show)