Móyòsóré Martins, Portfolio II

"In my life-long exposure to the emergence of great artists I have found few who I rate with Móyòsóré Martins. Those include Johns, Rauschenberg, Twombly, Marden, Basquiat and a few others. These are among the artists I collected when they were at the stage in their careers of Martins today."- Asher Edelman, Experte at M&A Arts


Why Invest in Móyòsóré Martins' Art?

Artistic Creation and Influences
Móyòsóré Martins is a New York-based Nigerian contemporary artist taking the art world by storm. He’s a renaissance man who dabbles in graphics, product design, and music. Moyo’s paintings are profoundly narrative and embody his personal journey. He embodies his traditional Afro-cultural, spiritual roots and fashion-forward sense of aesthetics.

Artistic Development and Style
Born of Brazilian descent with both parents from Ekiti state, Nigeria, Moyo 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. Moyo 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.

Artistic Approach and Technique
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 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 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 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.

Spiritual Canvas
Moyo 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.

Impact on the Art Market
Prices for Móyòsóré Martins' paintings sized 180 x 150 cm have progressed over the past three and a half years from $5,000 to the current $27,500. His works have been collected by more than 125 collectors, with about 170 paintings sold during this period. He has become somewhat of a cult figure.

Upcoming and Recent Exhibitions
Martins' work has already been featured in fifteen gallery exhibitions, including prominent events such as Scope Miami, Art Basel Hong Kong, and Now, They Know… in Beirut. Moyo is set to be featured in two solo shows, one in September with a prestigious gallery in Geneva and another in October in Paris, coinciding with Paris+ par Art Basel. These exhibitions are crucial for increasing Martins' visibility and solidifying his international reputation.