Biography

Josef Ciesla, France (1929-2023)
Born to Polish immigrants in 1929, Josef Ciesla arrived in France at the age of four. He is a self-taught man whose only studies were the classes he attended when he was nineteen at the Ecole Supérieure de Tissage in Lyon, and later at the Academy of Fine Arts. He left his job as an executive in the textile industry in 1968 and « he embraced a course which was driven by more than just a belief: the indivisibility of the human being with his inner calling« *
Art critic René Déroudille gave special attention to his work, and in 1970 supported the awarding of his first order from a public body – the General Council of the Rhône. This order opened the door to the creation of more than 75 imposing sculptures set up in many public spaces and private companies. Thanks to his personal and private exhibitions in many countries including France, Poland, the United States and Germany, his work is present in numerous museums and private collections around the world. His sculptures are well-known and recognized, unlike his graphic work. The latter is nevertheless extensive and is mainly found on large walls as well as in his personal diaries.

Gaston Bachelard has invariably been his intellectual guide and nature is his source of inspiration. All four elements are deeply integrated into his work in which all materials are used, although steel is his material of choice – steel which he sets against or marries with clay, wood, stone, enamel, textile and bronze among others. It is a genuine “forest of signs” as conveyed by Jean-Paul Gavard-Perret in 1999 in his book Josef Ciesla, the gates of silence or the song of signs. Col. « The Seven Hills » – ed. Jean-Pierre Huguet.

In October 2006, this tireless worker set up a sculpture-fountain in bronze at the University Lyon 3. Named Empreintes et Résurgences, it pays tribute to the values embodied by the Second World War resistant Jean Moulin (Architect Albert Constantin – President Guy Lavorel).
At the request of the same architect, Albert Constantin, he created stained glass windows from large paintings for the Clinique Saint Vincent de Paul in 2008.

Gaia is his last order, a 5-meter wide, 1.5-meter high painting, created with natural pigments for the new city hall of Artas, the town he currently resides in.

Josef Ciesla died on September 11, 2023.

*Jean-Paul Gavard-Perret