Stephan Balkenhol

Stephan Balkenhol (b. 1957) is considered a pioneer in contemporary figurative sculpture and one of Germany´s most internationally renowned artists.

Most of Balkenhol´s sculptures, which he carves out of massive logs with a chisel and then paints, are anonymous figures. Men and women, but also animals, that reveal nothing, tell us nothing, represent nothing. They are single or groups of figures and relief-shaped sculptural pictures.

Stephan Balkenhol, who likes to situate his sculptures in unusual locations in urban public space, counteracts the tradition of the monument rarely honoring rulers, heroes and thinkers but by mostly showing the average, mundane, normal and anonymous. His seemingly inconspicuous shapes, which do not display any emotions, remain oddly absent, hardly tangible, enigmatic and fictional. Neither their age nor a nameable social position is discernable. In viewing his works, recognition merges with doubt, the pleasantly familiar with the unsettling strange.

By extensively taking back a psychologizing dimension, Balkenhol´s figures always act as a mirror that can reflect the feelings, wishes and hopes of the observer.

biography

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lives and works in Kassel, Karlsruhe and Meisenthal (France)

1957

born in Fritzlar / Hesse

1976 - 1982

studies at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg

1983

start of exhibition activity (Galerie Löhrl Mönchengladbach)

Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff scholarship

1986

work scholarship of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

1988 - 1989

lectureship at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg

1989

international sponsorship award of the state of Baden-Württemberg;
Bremen Art Prize

1990 - 1991

lectureship at the State Academy of Fine Arts of Frankfurt/Main (Städelschule)

1991 - 1992

lectureship at the State Academy of Fine Arts of Karlsruhe

1992

professorship of Sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts of Karlsruhe

exhibitions

…

Well over 100 solo exhibitions in significant international museums and galleries since then; numerous participations in exhibitions and catalogues; acquisition of about 30 museums in Germany and elsewhere and over 60 percent for art projects.<br /><br />

group exhibition 1983

first participation in an exhibition, IMPULSE I, Galerie Löhrl Mönchengladbach

solo exhibition 1983

first solo exhibition (promotion booth), Galerie Löhrl, Art Cologne, Germany

solo exhibition 1984

Galerie Löhrl Mönchengladbach

solo exhibition 2016

Stephan Balkenhol - Neue Arbeiten, Galerie Löhrl
(26.11.2016 - 28.1.2017)

solo exhibition 2018

Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC), Málaga (ES)
(19 Jan - 22. Apr 2018)

Kunsthalle Emden, Germany
(09 June - 16 Sep 2018)

Stephan Balkenhol - Skulpturen und Reliefs, Galerie Löhrl
(16 Dec 2018 - 09 Feb 2019)

solo exhibition 2019

deadline, Museum für Sepulkralkultur, Kassel (DE)
(6 April - 14 July, 2019)

Stephan Balkenhol, Le Portique centre régional d´art contemporain du Havre, Le Havre (FR)
(29 June - 29 September, 2019)

Stephan Balkenhol - The bronze editions from 1992-2019, Galerie Löhrl (DE)
(28 September - 09 November 2019)

solo exhibition 2020

Stephan Balkenhol - Museum Jorn, Silkeborg,
Dänemark

solo exhibition 2022

Stephan Balkenhol - MARe/Muzeul de Arta Recenta, Bukarest, Rumänien

solo exhibition 2023

Stephan Balkenhol - Stephan Balkenhol meets Old Masters, Museum Wiesbaden