Frau II. 2003.
Wooden relief. Wawa wood, partly bordered in colors.
140 x 97,5 cm (55,1 x 38,3 in).
This work and the relief "Mann I" (2003), which is also offered in this auction, form a loose series. [KH].

EXHIBITION: Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York (with gallery label on verso).

Stephan Balkenhol, born in 1957 in Fritzlar, Hessen, studied sculpting at the 'Hochschule für Bildende Künste' in Hamburg under the strictly minimalist artist Ulrich Rückriem from 1976 to 1982. He was awarded two scholarships and then offered a teaching post at the Kunsthochschule Hamburg in 1988. In 1989 he went to Frankfurt to teach at the Städelschule until 1991. He has been teaching at the Staatliche Kunstakademie in Karlsruhe since 1992. Balkenhol's work reflects the searching of German artists during the 1980s for new means of expression and interpretations of every-day objects.

Next to his wooden sculptures, of which some are life-size, that Balkenhol cuts and carves from one woodblock, the silhouette reliefs are also part of his work.
Balkenhol treats the wood, which he perceives as a living substance, with traditional tools, leaving rills, fissures, splinters and cracks. This way he makes the sculpting process visible. As it is the case with all the artist’s works, he does without rhetoric emotions through mimic and gesture as a request to participate in inner sensation. Additionally, the figures are never displayed in everyday situations or individual conduct. This representation also applies to this relief. It is fully in line with Balkenhol’s artistic conception: ”Posture: posture is clearly recognizable from any perspective. Expression: ambivalent-''real'', but not (lively) striking. Color: as color.“ (Transl. of quote after: Dirk Teuber: Skulptur und Werkidee bei Stephan Balkenhol, in: ex. cat.: Stefan Balkenhol, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, 28 October – 3 December, 1989, Baden-Baden 1989, p. 8).

Balkenhol lives in Karlsruhe and in Meisenthal in the Lorraine and has a studio in Berlin. [KH/AS]