Stephan Balkenhol

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Stephan Balkenhol
Balkenhol Stephan-duisb-kueppersmuehle.jpg
Born1957 (age 6768)
NationalityGerman
Education University of Fine Arts of Hamburg
Style Figurative art

Stephan Balkenhol (born 1957, Fritzlar, Hesse, Germany) is a German artist who creates figurative painted wooden sculptures and reliefs. He is currently a Professor of Sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe (Germany). He lives and works in Karlsruhe, Germany and Meisenthal, France.

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Artistic Style

Balkenhol's work adopts a figurative artistic style. People are typically depicted in a neutral, objective way, removing socio-critical references. [1]

Balkenhol uses a variety of woods, such as poplar, Douglas fir and wawa wood. He hand carves each piece from a single block, leaving behind shavings and natural imperfections visible in the wood. He uses paint to structure the sculpture without heightening the figure's expressiveness. As a result, human figures are never polished and like humans, are not without imperfections. [2]

Artist's public installations

Balkenhol has also completed a number of public commissions in his career. Among them are the “Big Head Column” for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice, Italy), “Big Man with a Little Man” for Pariser Platz (Berlin, Germany), “Man and Woman” for Hamburg Central Library (Hamburg, Germany), “Everyman” for the Edinburgh City Council Offices (Edinburgh, Scotland) and “Man with Tower Block” (Toronto, Canada).

Public collections

References

  1. "STEPHAN BALKENHOL". Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  2. Stonard, John-Paul (2000-10-12). Balkenhol, Stephan. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.