Joel Cazaux, painter, printmaker, and sculptor, was born in Dinard, France on April 13, 1940. He attended the École Estienne and École Corvisart d'Art Graphique, both in Paris, and would go on to teach at the École d'architecture Paris-Villemin. He was active at Atelier 17 in Paris after it reopened in 1955. Cazaux finds inspiration for his work in the symbols of the ancient Egyptian, Aztec and African civilizations and his sculpture often combines bronze, stone and wood. He has stated, "I draw my imaginary world in primitive and archaic collective unconscious where our brain is always present." Cazaux lives in Paris and in Eperrais in the Orne department in northwestern France.