MÓYÒSÓRÉ MARTINS TO DEBUT FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION EXPLORING ‘THE WATCHMAN’ CHARACTER’S EVOLUTION
Pulpo Gallery presents the artist’s first show in Germany, opening September 13 in Murnau
Munich, Germany – August 13, 2025 – Pulpo Gallery is proud to present The Watchman, the first solo exhibition to focus exclusively on the Nigerian-born, NYC-based artist Móyòsóré Martins’ most iconic and enduring creation: The Watchman. Spanning over eight years of development, this landmark exhibition traces the evolution of a character that has become central to Martins’ practice—a spiritual sentinel born from Yoruba tradition and reimagined through the lens of urban mythology.
As questions of cultural identity, ancestry, and belonging take on new urgency worldwide, The Watchman stands as a powerful visual response: a figure of protection, observation, and transformation that bridges continents, generations, and worlds. The show also marks the artist’s first solo show in Germany, opening Friday, September 13, 2025, at Pulpo Gallery (Obermarkt 51, 82418 Murnau am Staffelsee, Germany) and showing through October 31.
At the heart of Martins’ practice is a collision of cultures—his Yoruba spiritual roots and the visual language of contemporary American life. The Watchman character, first conceived in 2017 after Martins immigrated to the U.S., embodies this convergence. Born from traditional guardian figures and shaped by Martins’ experience working as a night watchman in the Bronx, The Watchman evolved alongside the artist’s own journey—absorbing the energy of graffiti, streetwear, and his growing collection of urban art figures by artists such as Hebru Brantley, Ron English, KAWS, and Takashi Murakami.
Over the years, The Watchman has transformed into a hybrid archetype: part ancestral protector, part pop icon, and part spiritual mirror. This character—layered with meaning and myth—is now the focus of Martins’ most ambitious exhibition to date.
“The Watchman started as a personal symbol—rooted in culture, memory, and my lived experience—and it’s grown with me,” says Martins. “It’s not just one face. It’s many. It changes depending on what I’m seeing, what I’ve survived, and what I still believe in.”
