Kleiner Mann

"Balkenhol's pale monadic figures, isolated from both universality and concrete social individuation, usually appear before us simply attired in a dress or trousers and a shirt. They are like people who have recently come out of hospital after a serious illness, who cannot yet really turn to active life, but who can get dressed normally and face things again. Like convalescents, their primary occupation is to complete their recovery. Soon, they make take up their tools and re-enter their complex, stressful solcial relationships." (Jeff Wall, "An Outline of a Context for Stephan Balkenhol's Work", London 1988, p. 101.)