Stephan Balkenhol has been exploring figurative sculpture since the 1980s. In doing so, he has developed a unique formal syntax. His career as an artist began following his studies under Ulrich Rückriem from 1976 to 1982 at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg. By 1983, he had already created his first figurative wooden sculptures of a naked man and a naked woman, bringing the human figure to the fore in his artistic work. Now, for some thirty odd years, he has been addressing the human figure and, with that, the fundamental questions of human existence in all its facets.
Stephan Balkenhol (*1957) is one of Germany’s foremost sculptors. Following teaching appointments at both the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg and at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste - Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, he has held a professorship in Sculpture at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Karlsruhe since 1992.
His works are represented worldwide in leading museums, exhibitions and collections and many examples can be found in prominent public spaces (2019 Toronto, Le Havre, Amiens). In 2019 alone, his work has been shown in Leipzig, Stockholm, Tokio and at the Museum für Sepulkralkultur in Kassel. Further exhibitions are planned for 2020 at the Museum Asger Jorn in Silkeborg and at the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg.
Mai 36 Galerie has been exhibiting Stephan Balkenhol over the last thirty years.
Opening: Thursday, October 31, 6 pm – 8 pm
November 1, 2019 – January 11, 2020