Mann I. 2003.
Wooden relief. Wawa wood, partly bordered in colors.
140 x 99,2 cm (55,1 x 39 in).
This work, along with the releif "Frau II" (2003), which is also offered in this auction, form a loose series.

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

Stephan Balkenhol, born in 1957 in Fritzlar, Hessen, makes sculptures, which evoke archetypal behaviour patterns of human life and emotions. Balkenhol studied sculpture 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. Since around 1982 the human figure and the head, which he carves right out of the wood, dominate in his creation.

Both his famous sculptures as well as his flat silhouette reliefs show Balkenhol’s typical treatment. With traditional means such as gouge, carving knife and beater the heads are worked out of the wood after short sketches. "The ideas arise during the making." noted Balkenhol in a drawing (transl. of quote after: Dirk Teuber, Skulptur und Werkidee bei Stephan Balkenhol, in: Stephan Balkenhol, ex. cat. Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, 28 October – 3 December, 1989, Baden-Baden 1989, p. 10). Time and again, Balkenhol’s work raise the question as to who the depicted person may be or what he or she feels. The artist answers: "I have always wanted to keep my figures as open as possible in terms of character and expression. I wanted an expression that would leave room for all possible emotional states.“ (Transl. of quote after: Künstler. Kritisches Lexikon der Gegenwartskunst, edition 32, issue 27, 4\up5 th quarter 1995, p. 3). Accordingly, the beholder of this relief has free room for interpretation whether the depicted may even be Balkenhol himself.

In einer großen Einzelausstellung in den Deichtorhallen Hamburg von November 2008 bis Februar 2009 wurden Arbeiten ab 1982 gezeigt. Neben Skulpturen wurden auch plastische Bilder, Fotografien und Zeichnungen präsentiert. Stephan Balkenhol ist in Karlsruhe, Meisenthal und Berlin tätig. [KH/AS].