The minimalist yet profoundly moving sculptures by Stephan Balkenhol, one of the most important contemporary German sculptors, evoke archetypal patterns of human existence and perception. His work has been defined by heads and figures carved directly from a single wood block since 1982/83. After the two-part work “Kopf Mann und Frau” (Head Man and Woman) from 1982, which is now part of the Ludwig Collection in Aachen, Balkenhol carved the present figure pair “Mann und Frau” from a single trunk in 1983. Due to their slightly larger-than-life size, these first two full-length wooden sculptures elude any pictorial representation; their monumentalization seems alienating and confusing. The enormous spatial presence and inimitable aura of this impressive creation are captivating. Its reference to the art-historical tradition of depictions of Adam and Eve also evokes the fascination of the human beginning. At the same time, it also marks the beginning of Balkenhol's renowned sculptural creation.
Elements characteristic of Balkenhol's later work already make a powerful appearance here: the rough treatment of the wood and the almost melancholic disconnection between his figures. The disconnection between his figures and the world around them is captivating and often downright disturbing, and precisely this quality characterizes Balkenhol's "Mann und Frau." Although it draws on the prominent art-historical tradition of the Adam and Eve motif, a classic couple portrait, it is distinguished by the most pronounced lack of relationship. This quality directly negates the idea of any couple relationship. Neither the gaze nor the posture of the two figures suggests even the slightest degree of human interaction. Their rigid eyes stare into the void, almost aimlessly, and Balkenhol confronts us with the first humans cast into our modern world, naked, vulnerable, and without any relationship. These are archetypal conceptions of man and woman, and their nakedness is socially and temporally indeterminable. In stark contrast to historical couple motifs, the present work has no interpersonal interaction. Facial expressions or gestures do not mar its monumental physical presence. Comparison with the work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, whose “Liebespaar” from 1923/24 (height: 144.5 cm) was considered degenerate at the time and is now thought to be lost, serves to illustrate Balkenhol's artistic progressiveness: Balkenhol's critical work “Mann und Frau” stands out not only because of its slightly larger-than-life size, which makes their ‘human’ appeal almost a bit frightening, it is also characterized by the complete lack of relationship between the individuals, their isolation, which – seemingly paradoxical – can only be fully appreciated in the double portrait.
In his distinctive coarse style and with great physical effort, Balkenhol carved “Mann und Frau” from a huge trunk of a European beech in 1983. It was the year of his artistic breakthrough, the year he received the Schmidt-Rottluff scholarship for the present "Mann und Frau," and the year he showed works in the section for emerging artists at Art Cologne. His wooden sculptures, completely new in their formal language, were a great success in Cologne and soon sold out. Some works were sold directly to important public collections like the Nationalgalerie Berlin and the Ludwig Collection in Aachen.
Using traditional tools, Balkenhol began to process the wood, which he saw as a living substance, and, in doing so, he developed his characteristic artistic language as early as 1983. He leaves the surface in its natural state, rough and unfinished, and uses only minimal color. Like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and other artists of Expressionism with a background in sculpting, Balkenhol uses color only for accentuation. So, for the most part, scratches, cracks, chips, and fissures remain visible, bearing witness to the natural growth and sculpting processes. The figure, the head, the face – their physical volume emphasized – are circumscribed, always bearing a certain familial resemblance, but also with the essential degree of generalization that seeks the more significant form. Devoid of any indication of subjective state or emotion and free of narrative references, the figures derive their expressiveness solely from their physical presence, the generalized indeterminacy, and lack of relationship, which can express the existential attitude of postmodern man towards life straightforwardly.
Balkenhol broke entirely new ground in the traditional field of wood sculpture. He found his distinctive style and brought the sculpted image of man into the modern age with great force.
Balkenhol's figures remain isolated human individuals, removed images, and simultaneously, silent observers of our human existence. In their monumental size and nakedness, "Mann und Frau," Balkenhol's first full-body figures, remain unique pieces, as his subsequently made figures are mostly dressed, painted, and significantly reduced or enlarged in size in order to reduce their immediate physical presence, "because I do not want the viewer to think there is an actual person in front of him," explains Balkenhol (quoted from ex. cat. Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Cologne 2008, p. 115). Works from this fascinating sculptural oeuvre can be found in many important public collections today, among them the Kunsthalle Mannheim, the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. [JS]