The works of Arjan Martins subtly embody concepts of migration and other displacements of bodies and presences across spaces of struggle and power. The artist develops a unique pictorial technique during the process of constructing his canvases, addressing diasporas and colonial movements that unfolded across Afro-Atlantic territories. Martins crafts an artistic analysis in a supra-real temporality—his imagery and the expression of his impulses engage with and react to symbols from the era of maritime expansion and the enslavement of Black bodies. The caravel, the contested terrestrial globe, enslaved Africans, and navigational tools all emerge as markers of that time, recontextualized through his practice.
Among his solo exhibitions, notable presentations include Hemisfério 1 at A Gentil Carioca in São Paulo (2022), Descompasso Atlântico at A Gentil Carioca in Rio de Janeiro (2021), The Armory Show in New York (2019), The Historian’s Craft at ICA Milano (2019), O Estrangeiro at the Basilea Foundation in Switzerland (2017), Et Cetera in Rio (2016), Américas—curated by Paulo Sergio Duarte—at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio (2014), Urbes at Sesc Madureira (2009), and Desenhos at the Museu da República (2022).
Martins has also played a significant role in group exhibitions, such as Vai, vai, Saudade at Museo Madre in Naples (2024), When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting at Kunstmuseum Basel (2024), TERRITORIOS: Arte Contemporáneo Latinoamericano at CAAC in Seville (2024), África: Diálogos com o contemporâneo at MON in Curitiba (2023), Dos Brasis: Arte e Pensamento Negro at Sesc Quitandinha (2024), Crèvecœur danse avec A Gentil Carioca at Galerie Crèvecœur in Paris (2023), Corpo Botânico at Pavilhão Victor Brecheret in Rio (2023), and FUNK: Um grito de ousadia e liberdade at MAR (2023).
Martins won the PIPA Prize in 2018 and was nominated in 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2016, all in Rio de Janeiro. His artistic career is distinguished by his involvement in diverse projects, exhibitions, and recognition within the contemporary art scene.