Joel Gaitan: Making Waves on both sides of the Atlantic

JG#09, 2025. Glazed stoneware, gilt. 36 × 30 × 18 cm
/14.2 × 11.8 × 7.1 in. Photo by Anthony Girardi, courtesy of Galerie Lefebvre et Fils.

If you plan a visit to Paris before January 25, 2026, we invite you to visit Galerie Lefebvre et Fils where Bakehouse resident artist Joel Gaitan’s solo show is on view. Solo Quedan Los Recuerdos, celebrates life, death, and the afterlife and delves into themes of identity, sexuality, and ancestral lineage. From forgotten languages to erased cultures, Joel immerses himself in traditional clay hand-building techniques, carrying forward a sacred Nicaraguan and Central American tradition within a post-colonial world. Raised in a Pentecostal environment, Gaitan still carries with him the music, the verses, and the Holy Spirit– yet reinterpreted through his own lens. Through ceramics and other media, he illuminates Nicaraguan life and aesthetics, creating portraits that blend poetry, color, and narrative. Each piece is conceived by Gaitan as an offering to his ancestors: those he has known and those unknown.

As a result of his two months at Cite in 2023, the first time he visited Paris, Joel dove into and met other artists, curators, cultural producers and gallerists, exactly what both Cite and Bakehouse hoped to inspire. As a result, he was successful in securing a three-month residency in Versailles as part of The Residency, a program launched by Galerie Lefebvre et Fils in 2015. That program reflects a commitment to supporting contemporary creation while preserving the craftsmanship associated with the ceramic arts. Works created by Joel Gaitan during that residency are on view at the gallery until January 25, 2026.

If you miss Joel in Paris, you can visit him March through August as a resident at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City. And, you also can come by Bakehouse and see so many others, like Joel, are making great work. Joel is represented by KDR gallery in Miami.

We are so proud of how many of our artists are forging new relationships as a part of specific opportunities we provide, seeking prestigious fellowships, and advancing their work.

Stay tuned. In March we will announce our 2026 Cite Laureate!

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📍 Galerie Lefebvre et Fils, 46 Rue de la Vielle du Temple, 75003 Paris, France

🗓️ Closing January 25, 2026.