Lot Essay
Stephan Balkenhol studied at the Höchschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg. His works include sculptures, reliefs, busts, and figures of different scales, all carved from single pieces of wood. The carvings deal with mimesis, in particular the representation of body and face. Balkenhol has exhibited widely in Europe and the United States, including at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. (1995); Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal (1996); Saatchi Collection, London (1996); and the Arts Club of Chicago (1998). He has had recent solo exhibitions at Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2008); MKM Museum Küppersmühle für moderne Kunst, Duisburg, (2007); and the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg (2007). Recent Group exhibitions include Intersezioni 3: Balkenhol, Delwoye, Quinn Al Parco Archeologico di Scolacium, Catanzaro (2007); Six Feet Under: Autopsie unseres Umgang mit Toten, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland (2006); and Figures in the Field - Figurative sculpture and Abstract Painting from Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago (2006). He lives and works in Karlsruhe (Germany) and Meisenthal (France) and has been Professor of Sculpture at the Akademie für Bildende Künste, Karslruhe since 1992. Balkenhol had a solo exhibition at Witte de With, Rotterdam in 1992/93.