BIO

Koby Martin is a proud export of Ghana. His talent and God-given gift was nurtured in his motherland and polished in the United Kingdom. These worlds merge together in his art where traits of his African descent and life in Europe thus far, can  be seen as a consistent influence in the narratives of his pieces. 

 Koby’s work is an introspective, autobiographical exploration of his life which portrays the inclusive human experience of dealing with emotions, memories, thoughts and feelings that we all undeniably feel. Through emotive figures, subjects and abstract forms, he captures beautifully the human essence of both courage and sadness which is a constant theme throughout his work that is expressed in both traditional and digital mediums. Throughout his career, Koby has been responsible for various creative contents on a global level for  artists including the debut album cover for Krept & Konan, Nico & Vinz and Jessie J.

Koby’s also worked with multiple brands on various projects including Nike, Google,Motorola Bacardi, Adidas, Universal Music, Virgin Records, House Of Marley, Def Jam, Vype Pebble, AFIE (African Footballers In Europe), Native Magazine and Mercedes Benz. The latter of which featured Koby’s artwork painted on a limited edition fleet of Mercedes Smart Cars as well as his own limited watch collaboration with Singaporean luxury brand, Lytt Labs. He also worked on J Hus’s newly launched clothing line and capsule collection: ” The Ugliest” where he coined the designs for the scarfs and the lining of the jackets.

As an artist on Disturbing London's roster, the record label also presents his yearly projects of exhibitions with various galleries all over the UK and internationally. Koby has worked on projects for the likes of Wizkid, J Hus, Wretch 32, Chronixx, TinieTempah, G Frsh, Yungen, A2 and more.

He has  gone ahead to have collaborations with the British Council and The British High Commission; to which he was commissioned to create a live painting at the 2019 Afrochella concert, at the El Wak stadium in Accra, Ghana.

His collaboration in August, 2020, had him in a live painting session with Tate Collective & My Runway Group called "Home Is Where The Heart Is", where he was commissioned to  create a painting which addressed the issue of  'Overcoming Anxiety.'

 In the same year, he further went on to be an ambassador for the legendary, American, street wear brand Karl Kani; where he was chosen to represent the clothing brand for the campaign " Can I" which was featured in Highesnobiety.

A year later Koby was selected by the Tate to be on an online panel to discuss the exploration of current painting practices. A talk that was inspired by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's paintings and ongoing exhibition, 'Fly In League With The Night'.

A few months later, a collaboration between Tate Collective and Bankside London was launched. It involved Koby being commissioned to create his first public art in the Tate Modern and Bankside area. The concept of his creation explored  the history of performance, theatre and music of the area. His wall piece Spotlight Dreams depicted men who performed as women on stage, at a time when women were not allowed to act. He made use of  the Ghanaian Adinkra symbol funtunfunefu denkyemfunefu (Siamese crocodile), which represents unity - an overarching theme of the work. The pieces he created were slated to be in the space for a year.

In 2013, Koby co-founded creative group VVX (Very Very Xtraordinary) as a platform to exhibit his works and manage his day to day activities as an artist. His artwork and various commissions can be purchased and viewed at Kobmart.co.uk