Joel Gaitan: El Solitario se echa con la muerte y se levanta viudo

The Pit is pleased to present El Solitario se echa con la muerte y se levanta viudo / The lonely man goes to bed with death, and awakens a widow, the first solo presentation of the artist and ceramist Joel Gaitan at The Pit. The nine sculptures presented in this exhibition are a new chapter in the Nicaraguan-American artist’s work, where themes of solitude and self-transcendence build upon his previous explorations into the significance of home, spirituality, life and death, and his Nicaraguan heritage. The exhibition will be on view from September 24 - October 31, 2024 with an opening reception on Saturday September 28 from 5-7pm. 

The first piece he created for the exhibition, “La tumba (beso de muerte) / The Grave (Kiss of Death)” is an offering to the after-life. Carved into the back in gold letters is a poem written by Gaitan that presents us with the reality of impermanence. As described in his words–and in the name of the exhibition which is an excerpt from a poem by the Nicaraguan author Ernesto Mejía Sánchez titled “El Solitario, The Lonely Man”–death is something he must experience alone. But like many of Gaitan’s works, the piece balances both the lighter and darker aspects of existence. To understand that further, we must see past Western ideas of death and welcome the beliefs of the Pre-Columbian peoples of the Americas, who saw death as part of a continuous evolution–not as the end. 

The show also introduces a shift in the shapes Gaitan creates in his work. Where in the past he added human characteristics to clay vessels, now he has created fully figurative sculptures that go past traditional pottery forms. This is especially evident in the piece “No pidas agua cuando no hay sed / Don’t Ask for Water When There Isn’t Thirst,” which depicts a nude woman lounging on her side with a braid that drapes along her ample body. She appears confident and comfortable with her singularity–and simultaneously ethereal, as if she were experiencing life from a state of nirvana. On her head sits a golden crown that Gaitan added to the figure after visiting the Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia. It is his own version of the "Crown of the Andes,” the famous gold and emerald crown made in Colombia during the 17th century.

Other works in the show, like “Baile folklórico en Maison Margiela” and “Figura femenina en Manolo Blahnik y KidSuper,” pay homage to Nicaragua and the Central American people he grew up around. Like many of his past pieces, they blend modern cultural references with indigenous Meso-American practices. An example of this is seen in “Algo en tu cara me fascina / Something about your face fascinates me,” where the teeth of the main figure are decorated with gems and icons that reference both the grills and teeth-gems worn today, and the jade and turquoise decorations that the ancient Mayans embedded into their teeth. 

“Bebe de mi agua, mi agua derramada, bebe de mi sangre, mi sangre derramada / Drink of My Water, My Spilled Water, Drink of My Blood, My Spilled Blood” additionally brings into the conversation the influence of prominent Latin American artists–the silhouette of a body from Ana Mendieta’s earth artworks and Diego Rivera’s calla lilies are embedded into the crevices. The sculpture bears in its hills and valleys the many histories that converge in each of Gaitan’s artworks.

– Ivana Cruz