Michal Cimala

Michal Cimala (1975) is a prominent figure on the contemporary art scene who combines art, design, and music into a distinctive form of expression. During his time at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design (1989–1993), he studied in Vratislav Karel Novák’s Metal and Jewelry Studio. He later worked as an assistant in the school’s Sculpture Studio I – first with Jaroslav Róna and subsequently with Lukáš Rittstein. Cimala’s foreign study and work exchanges were a fundamental source of inspiration, and his time in Berlin eventually led him to use recycled materials – a medium that formed the basis for many of his works. Cimala is a co-founder of Trafo Gallery and the Trafačka art studios. His typical combination of various areas of interest found distinctive expression in a series of experimental music objects that he began making in the late 1990s. He also creates small-scale glass and bronze busts as well as monumental works for the public space made out of recycled materials. Besides objects and sculptures, Cimala also spray paints using homemade templates or meshes. In his work, which explores disturbing images of contemporary society or speculative visions of the near future, he draws on an industrial aesthetic that is more than just a source of inspiration – it also represents a way of working sustainably within contemporary art. Michal Cimala regularly exhibits at Czech and foreign galleries and at various art fairs. Recent successes include the exhibition Pressure Wave at Villa Pellé (2025) and a steel sculpture installed in the public space of České Budějovice.