Contemporary artist, Nigerian-born, New York–based Afro-futurist Móyòsórè Martins has presented two major exhibitions across Milan and Venice.
This month in Venice, Martins debuted two monumental works—Feed the Machine (2025) and In The Time of Place (2023)—as part of Worlds in the Making at the Republic of Sierra Leone Pavilion during the 61st Venice Biennale. Known for his raw, layered visual language, Martins constructs psychologically charged compositions where figuration, text, and symbolic fragments collide—bridging Yoruba cosmology, diasporic identity, and contemporary experience.
Image: Móyòsóré Martins photographed by Daniella Liguori in his Bronx Studio, January 2026 in front of Feed The Machine, 2025, Oil, oil stick, pigment, and graphite on canvas, 108 x 79 in. (274 x 200 cm)
Running concurrently, Martins presented his first solo exhibition in Italy, The Great Boom!, at Upsilon Gallery in Milan which opened on Wednesday, May 13 through June 7. The exhibition introduces a new body of work from his “Boom” series—an explosive, confrontational chapter in his practice that explores collapse, transformation, and renewal, while further evolving his recurring Watchman figure.
Together, these presentations mark a pivotal moment in Martins’ trajectory, positioning him as a rising voice within global contemporary art—bridging institutional visibility with a distinct, culturally rooted practice.