STEPHAN BALKENHOL (* 1957)

The German sculptor Stephan Balkenhol says about his work:

„My sculptures don’t tell stories. Something mysterious is hidden within them. It’s not my task to reveal it, but rather the viewer’s to discover it.“

Stephan Balkenhol studied at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts under teachers such as Ulrich Rückriem and Sigmar Polke, taught at the Städel Art Institute in Frankfurt, and was a professor at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts until 2023. The artist is known for his sculptures, reliefs, drawings, and graphic works and works in his studios in Karlsruhe, Berlin, and Kassel, as well as in Meisenthal, Lorraine, France.

Stephan Balkenhol is one of the most renowned, internationally successful, and important German artists in the field of figurative sculpture. His roughly hewn, painted sculptures bear his unmistakable visual language and reveal the inherent presence of the material.

His powerful artworks and surreal figures depict people, animals, and architectural forms. Balkenhol’s figures seem to grow organically from within.

His bronze editions bear the unmistakable, understated expression of his visual language.

Exhibition on the unicorn motif in art history:

Until February 1, 2026, „Unicorn. The Mythical Creature in Art“ – from antiquity to the present day – at the Museum Barberini – Potsdam

March 13 to July 12, 2026, „The Unicorn. The Mythical Creature in Art,“ Musée de Cluny, France

Exhibitions in museums (selection):

2024 „Stephan Balkenhol Meets Old Masters,“ Museum Wiesbaden

2025 „Stephan Balkenhol. Something is Happening,“ Kunsthal Rotterdam

Art by Stephan Balkenhol in Museums (Selection)

Kunstmuseum Basel: 12 Friends, pine wood relief, 1988
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main: 57 Penguins, made of wawa wood, 1991
Hamburger Kunsthalle: Large Head, 1991
Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg: Large Head Relief of Man and Woman, 2000, poplar wood, painted
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg City: Castle, 2003; Grand Duke Jean, 2006; Grand Duchess Joséphine Charlotte, wooden reliefs
Marta Herford, Herford, Couple (Man and Woman), 2005

Exhibitions by Stephan Balkenhol (selection – from 2018 onwards)

1986: Kunstverein Kassel, Kassel
…
2018: Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC), Málaga
2018: Kunsthalle in Emden, Emden: Stephan Balkenhol, June 9 to September 19
2018: Cultuurcentrum Scharpoord, Knokke-Heist (Belgium)
2019: deadline. Stephan Balkenhol, April 6 to July 14, Museum für Sepulkralkultur, Kassel
2020–2021: Lehmbruck-Museum Duisburg, October 22, 2020 to May 24, 2021
2021: Kunstmuseum Walter, Augsburg: Stephan Balkenhol in the Walter Collection. June 29 to September 5
2023–2024: Museum Wiesbaden: Stephan Balkenhol Meets Old Masters, November 10, 2023 to June 2, 2024
2025: Kunsthal Rotterdam: Stephan Balkenhol. Something is happening, May 24 to September 14

Literature

Stephan Balkenhol – Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronze Editions 1992-2023, Löhrl, Christian. – Mönchengladbach: B. Kühlen Verlag, 2023

(H.W.)