Sale: 416 / Post War / Contemporary Art, June 07. 2014 in Munich Lot 765

 

765
Stephan Balkenhol
Frau mit weißem Kleid, Ca. 1990.
Wooden sculpture
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,400
Sold:
€ 36,600 / $ 39,528

(incl. surcharge)
Frau mit weißem Kleid. Ca. 1990er Jahre.
Wooden sculpture. Figure column of Wawa wood, bordered in colors.
Height of figure: 40 cm (15,7 in). Dimension: 160 x 23 x 23 cm (63 x 9,1 x 9,1 in).
[CB].

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. Typical are his larger-than-life human figures and heads carved directly out of wooden blocks, which he has been making since 1982.

Balkenhol uses traditional tools for his woodwork and considers the wood itself a living matter. Grooves, fissures, splinter and cracks on his sculptures document the creative process. The figures, the head, the face - often accentuated by painted markings - are sketchy, sometimes almost portrait-like. There is always a certain "family likeness" paralleled with the necessary generalisation for a large form. The figures convey no subjective emotions and are free of sociological or socio-critical references. They have a completely autonomous presence with a generalising vagueness, which exemplifies an existential awareness of life of post-modern man.

In a large solo show at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg from November 2008 to February 2009 his works from after 1982 were shown. Next to sculptures, the exhibition also included plastic pictures, photographs and drawings. Stephan Balkenhol is active in Karlsruhe, Meisenthal and Berlin.




765
Stephan Balkenhol
Frau mit weißem Kleid, Ca. 1990.
Wooden sculpture
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,400
Sold:
€ 36,600 / $ 39,528

(incl. surcharge)