Stephan Balkenhol
Stephan Balkenhol was born in 1957 in Fritzlar, Germany. He lives and works in Kassel, Germany.
Balkenhol studied at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg from 1976-82. His focus on the human form and his intention to reintroduce figuration into contemporary art was a divergent response to the abstract, minimalist and conceptual approaches of the school during the 1970s and ‘80s.
His anonymous figures are painted in simple colour combinations that appear timeless yet familiar, both living and inanimate. They retain the grooves, cracks, chips and fissures that represent the sculpting process, demonstrating the artist’s raw and spontaneous treatment of the material. Balkenhol’s practice advances the longstanding tradition of woodcarving in Germany, inviting comparisons to expressionist sculptors such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Ernst Barlach.
The artist has completed a significant number of public commissions throughout his career, with installations in front of the Blackfriars Bridge, London; at the entrance of the Hamburg Zoo, Germany; at the Städelsches Kunstinstituut in Frankfurt, Germany; in Le Havre, France; and in Kassel and Leipzig, Germany.
In April 2025 a new statue of Dutch composer, Willem Pijper (1894–1947), was unveiled at the concert venue de Doelen in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Also on view in Rotterdam is Balkenhol’s major solo exhibition ‘Something is Happening’ at Kunsthal Rotterdam, Netherlands (2025). The show presents a selection of over 35 works, including his ‘Zodiac’ series on display together for the first time.
A solo exhibition of recent sculptures by Balkenhol opened at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, England, in January 2023. Other notable solo presentations include those at Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany (2023); Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany (2020); Museum Jorn, Silkeborg, Denmark (2020); Palais d'Iéna, Paris, France (2020); Museum of Sepulchral Culture, Kassel, Germany (2019); Kunsthalle Emden, Emden, Germany (2018); Deweer Gallery, Brussels, Belgium (2017); Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Palais Gogolevski, Moscow, Russia (2016); Fondation Fernet-Branca, Saint-Louis, France (2016, two-person); Akinci, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2015); Landes Museum, Linz, Austria (2014); Kunstmuseum Ravensburg, Ravensburg, Germany (2014); Palais d'Iéna, Paris, France (2012); Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble, France (2010); Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany (2008); Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, Germany (2006); National Museum of Contemporary Art, Osaka, Japan (2005); Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel (2005); Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany (2003); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA (1995) and Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland (1991).
Balkenhol’s works are included in prominent collections internationally, including the Musée des Beaux Arts de Montréal, Quebec, Canada; Smithsonian Institution, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., USA; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble, France and National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan.