Joel Gaitan

While celebrating life, death, and the afterlife, Joel Gaitan’s anthropomorphic vessels delve into the matters of self-identity, sexuality, and ancestral lineage. Born and currently based in Miami, the self-taught artist immerses himself in traditional hand-building clay techniques, as a way of keeping Nicaraguan and Central American traditions alive within a colonized world. His practice references Mesoamerican art history, while utilizing ceramics as a primary medium to pay homage to those who have been encountered, and those who have not. Gaitan’s work has been featured in a solo exhibition commissioned by Art Production Fund at Rockefeller Center in New York, in addition to group presentations at venues such as Pace Gallery, Palm Beach, FL; Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, CA; and El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY.