Stephan Balkenhol

"Stephan Balkenhol’s wooden sculptures spurn the classical ideals of beauty and present us with the nondescript everyday man/woman. His works have affinities to the wood carving tradition of the Middle Ages and northern renaissance and the “naive” folk art of Poland and eastern Europe, yet there is more whimsy than Gothic in his forms....He does not seek to recapture the heroic glory of bygone periods but rather demonumentalizes the figurative statue by thrusting the most unremarkable men and women onto pedestals historically reserved for heroes and heroines.

In the work of Balkenhol, the age-old human urge to represent is linked with the tradition of art aimed at creating a world that is analogous to this world, and yet exists alongside it. The aim is not to be absorbed, unthinkingly, in this make-believe world, but to become all the more aware of its unique reality by offering a representation.

Using a variety of woods such as wawa, poplar and Douglas fir, Balkenhol chisels away at impressive logs using power saws and hammers, letting his sculptures of lifelike men, woman, animals and perhaps even a hybrid of the two emerge. The figures spring forth, all part of the same log, thus bound literally to their base. This carving technique links him to German Expressionism, yet the men and woman in his works have deadpan expressions. He works to resist this heritage by avoiding gesture. It is the exposed incisions and rough surfaces on the finished forms that give a sense of vitality and compelling humanism.

Balkenhol avoids creating a narrative or leading to an allegorical interpretation. His figures are devoid of specific associations. His figures wear nondescript outfits, further emphasizing the everydayness of their forms and not likely to give anything away. He uses paint sparingly, only for clothes, hair, lips and eyes, letting the raw wood speak for the skin tones. The figures are either smaller than life or larger than life, but they are never quite human size. Balkenhol doesn’t want to fool you, he wants to make sure you know it’s a sculpture. He has resuscitated the figurative sculpture from what was a burdensome tradition and has given it his own distinctive approach." (Neal Benezra in his 1995 catalogue of Balkenhol’s exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden)

In 1986 DEWEER gallery was Stephan Balkenhol ‘s first foreign gallery. Since then the gallery has presented a one-man show every three years. The artist’s 9th solo show in Otegem features new works exclusively.
Although Stephan Balkenhol is mainly known for his at once virtuoso and quiet figurative wood sculptures, we may encounter his bronze sculptures on public squares in many cities all over the world. For example in the Belgian cities of Kortrijk and Menen, but also in Salzburg or Johannesburg.

The list of Stephan Balkenhols solo shows in international museums is very extensive. Sculptures of the meanwhile internationally renown artist can be found in the most important institutional or private collections worldwide.