Stephan Balkenhol

Basic data

Stephan Balkenhol is a contemporary German sculptor whose work includes sculptures, reliefs, drawings, and graphics. He is best known for his enigmatic figurative and roughly worked wooden sculptures, which largely elude a psychologizing dimension.

• Born: 10 February 1957
• Place of birth: Fritzlar, Hesse
• Nationality: German
• Studied at: Academy of Fine Arts of Hamburg
• Teachers: Ulrich Rückriem, Sigmar Polke
• Era: contemporary art

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Biography

Stephan Balkenhol was born on 10 February 1957 in Fritzlar in Hesse, the youngest of four children. After attending the European School in Luxembourg for a few years, he went to the Friedrichsgymnasium in Kassel when his family moved there. Due to the proximity to the documenta held there, he already came into contact with the contemporary art scene during his school years. He is said to have visited documenta 5 at the age of 15.

After graduating from high school, he began studying at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg in 1976. There he was taught by the sculptor Ulrich Rückriem, among others, and found his passion in the medium of sculpture. From the time of his graduation in 1982, Balkenhol became increasingly involved with the depiction of life-size people, which were to become his signature works. The Karl Schmitt-Rottluf scholarship in 1983 and the working scholarship of the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 1986 enabled him to further develop his unmistakable style. His well-known works, made of soft woods such as poplar or Douglas fir, clearly reveal their process of creation. In addition, Balkenhol uses the natural structures of the material for his composition.

Balkenhol finally gained international attention from the mid-1980s onwards, when he increasingly presented his sculptures in public spaces. In 1987, he placed the figure "Man with Green Shirt and White Trousers" on the wall of a house as part of the "Skulptur Projekte Münster". The sculpture, standing on a chimney ledge, caused worried calls to the police, as passers-by mistook it for a real person. A few years later, one of his figures, which he installed on the Thames for the exhibition "Double Take" in London, attracted similar attention.

Since the late 1980s, he has taught at various art colleges. In 1988, Balkenhol received his first teaching assignment at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg, which he followed for a year. He then worked for a further year at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt am Main before moving to the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe as a professor in 1992.

Balkenhol was awarded, among other prizes, the "Förderpreis des Internationalen Preises des Landes Baden-Württemberg" in 1989 and the "Bremer Kunstpreis" in 1990. In 2014, he was awarded the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" in Paris. Today, the sculptor lives and works in Karlsruhe, Berlin and Kassel, among other places.

Exhibitions

• 31.03.2023 - 02.07.2023 Escala : Escultura (1945-2000) - Penelope Curtis, Manuel Fontán del Junco, Fundación Juan March, Madrid.
• 14.01.2023 - 11.03.2023 30 YEARS - Monica De Cardenas, Milan.
• 13.10.21 - 18.10.21 6. Roter Kunstsalon - Museum Villa Rot, Burgrieden-Rot.
• 18.09.21 - 13.12.21 Feuer . Wasser . Erde . Luft - Löhrl, Mönchengladbach.
• 17.09.21 - 27.11.21 Insights Miradas Una Ullada Arte del National-Bank - CCA Andratx, Andratx.
• 07.12.20 - 14.03.21 The Essl Collection – Albertina Modern, Vienna.
• 18.11.20 - 26.11.20 100 Artists. 1 Mission – Berlinische Galerie, Berlin.
• 22.10.20 - 28.02.21 Stephan Balkenhol – Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg.
• 22.01.20 - 22.02.20 schwarzweiß – weißschwarz - BEGE Galerien Ulm - Galerie am Saumarkt, Ulm.
• 08.11.19 - 24.03.20 Neuerwerbungen 2019 de Sammlung Hense - Sammlung Hense / Kunsthalle Hense - Sammlung Hense / Kunsthalle Hense, Gescher.
• 14.10.19 - 24.01.20 Samowar #9 -  Galerie Coucou, Kassel.
• 28.10.2018 - 30.06.2019 HEIMVORTEIL. Deutsche Künstler aus der Sammlung Schaufler - Schauwerk Sindelfingen.
• 07.09.2016 - 13.11.2016 Stephan Balkenhol - MMOMA, Moscow.
• 06.12.2015 - 21.02.2016 Figure on Display. Stephan Balkenhol und Jeff Wall - Leopold Hoesch Museum + Papiermuseum Düren.
• 11.09.2015 10.01.2016 Von Hockney bis Holbein. Die Sammlung Würth in Berlin - Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin.
• 15.12.2011 - 25.02.2012 Stephan Balkenhol - Monica De Cardenas, Milan.
• 19.06.2011 - 09.10.2011 MMK 1991-2011. 20 Jahre Gegenwart - Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt.
• 31.01.2010 - 18.04.2010 Stephan Balkenhol - Alberto Giacometti - Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg.
• 14.11.2008 - 01.02.2009 Stephan Balkenhol - Deichtorhallen Hamburg & Sammlung Falckenberg.
• 22.05.2008 - 30.11.2008 Von Balkenhol bis Wachter - Staatsgalerie Moderne Kunst im Glaspalast, Augsburg.
• 15.07.2006 - 17.09.2006 Stephan Balkenhol - Kunsthalle Baden-Baden.
• 22.07.2004 - 30.11.2004 Stephan Balkenhol: THE TASK OF SOLITARY MAN - Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv.
• 05.07.2003 - 23.11.2003 Stephan Balkenhol, Christian Marclay - Sprengel Museum, Hanover.

Awards

• 1989: Award for the International Prize of the State of Baden-Württemberg.
• 1990: Bremer Art Prize, Bremen.
• 2014: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Paris.
• 2016: Honorary membership of the Academy of Russian Arts.

Films

• Stephan Balkenhol. Menschen - tierisch!, Documentation by Peter Heller, 26min, Germany 2006.

Literature

• Stephan Balkenhol. deadline, exhibition catalog, Rainer Marten, Dirk Poerschmann, Berlin 2019.
• Figure on display. Stefan Balkenhol - Jeff Wall, Renate Goldmann (Publ.), Berlin 2016.
• Stephan Balkenhol - Großer Kniender, Matthias Winzen, Berlin 2015.
• Stephan Balkenhol, exhibition catalog, Henrik Hornung (Publ.), Bielefeld 2014.
• Stephan Balkenhol, exhibition catalog, Gabriele Spindler (Publ.), Linz 2014.
• Balanceakt. Stephan Balkenhol, Nicolaus Fest (Publ.), Cologne 2010.
• Public: die Skulpturen im öffentlichen Raum. Stephan Balkenhol, Andreas Franzke & Eckhard Nordhofen, Ostfildern 2009.
• Stephan Balkenhol. Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Robert Fleck, Cologne 2008.
• Stephan Balkenhol, exhibition catalog, Matthias Winzen (Publ.), Cologne 2006.

Collections

Belgium

• Antwerpen - Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (MuHKA)

Germany

• Berlin - Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart
• Berlin - me Collectors Room
• Berlin - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
• Frankfurt/Main - Museum für Moderne Kunst
• Hamburg - Hamburger Kunsthalle
• Cologne - Museum Ludwig
• Leipzig - G2 Kunsthalle
• Leipzig - Museum der Bildenden Künste
• Essen - Museum Folkwang
• Nuremberg - Neues Museum
• Hanover - Sprengel Museum

Ireland

• Dublin - Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)

Luxembourg

• Luxemburg - Musée d´Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM)

Switzerland

• Basel - Kunstmuseum Basel

USA

• Los Angeles - Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
• Overland Park - Nerman Museum

Weblinks

• Kunstaspekte Stephan Balkenhol Exhibition and collection overview
• Stephan Balkenhol Who’s Who Biography