New Works | Stephan Balkenhol

AKINCI is proud to present a solo exhibition featuring new sculptures by Stephan Balkenhol, created specially for this occasion. The exhibition is on view from 13 September to 26 October 2024.

Internationally renowned sculptor Stephan Balkenhol (Fitzlar, 1957) is one of the most authentic and celebrated sculptors of his generation. He brought the human form back as a subject and reintroduced figuration into contemporary art in the 1980s. As a student of the minimalist sculptor Ulrich Rückriem, he made a radical decision towards the end of his studies: he began depicting human heads, subsequently moving on to creating figures in clay and ultimately in wood. Since then, he has held over 100 solo exhibitions in renowned galleries and international museums and has created numerous sculptures for public spaces. Notable examples include commissions for the Thames in London, the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, the Erasmus Ziekenhuis in Rotterdam, and De Fontein van Fortuna in Sneek. Balkenhol was also commissioned by the concert hall De Doelen in Rotterdam to create a sculpture honoring the early 20th-century Dutch composer Willem Pijper, which will be unveiled in April 2025.

Stylistically, Balkenhol’s sculptures are deeply rooted in European art history, tracing back to Ancient Egypt, the polychrome sculpture of the Middle Ages, and Renaissance portraiture. Yet stripped of any pretension, the figures approach the viewer in a seemingly everyday manner. The work is open to individual interpretation and speaks to the viewer’s imagination, devoid of overt political messaging or social critique. Recognizable by their ordinary clothing and unassuming facial expressions free of dominant emotion, the figures stand as archetypes of the twenty-first-century ‘everyman’ or ‘everywoman’—representing no one in particular yet everyone at once.

Over the years, Balkenhol has developed a singular style marked by consistent simplicity and readily recognized by the connoisseur’s eye. All the work is crafted by hand, without the aid of assistants or specialized machinery. Beginning with a chainsaw for the initial rough work, he then uses a hammer, chisel, and gouge to refine the sculpture down to the subtlest detail. The figures emerge from the wood as though they had always been concealed within the tree trunk. Traces of the fabrication process are deliberately left untouched rather than smoothed away, resulting in an engaging, vibrant surface full of cracks and splinters. According to Balkenhol, wood is the ideal medium for the rhythm of his thoughts and working process: where stone is ‘too slow’ and plaster and clay are ‘too fast’, wood offers both resistance and vitality, leaving room for discovery along the way.

In an ongoing exploration of the human form, Stephan Balkenhol has created an entirely new series of works for this exhibition at AKINCI, expanding his oeuvre from sculpture into reliefs and drawings. Attuned to the space, this new body of work generates an installation-like experience in which the individual works coalesce and resonate with one another. Visitors are warmly invited to immerse themselves in the exhibition.