Stephan Balkenhol

Internationally renowned artist Stephan Balkenhol (Fritzlar, Germany, 1957) is one of the most authentic and celebrated sculptors of his generation. He is known for his figurative wooden sculptures and reliefs that combine traditional craftsmanship with contemporary art. While chopping and cutting away in the wood, Balkenhol unearths figures from the trunk of a tree as if they were already hiding inside. Characterised by a consistent sense of simplicity, his robust, tranquil sculptures mainly represent ordinary people, sometimes animals, and occasionally hybrid creatures that merge human and animal forms. The exhibition Stephan Balkenhol. Something is Happening at the Kunsthal is presenting a selection of over 35 works that bring Balkenhol’s distinctive universe to life.
Balkenhol’s figures are rendered in simple, confident shapes: a human being with the head of a hedgehog, a shark with a man hidden inside it, or a monumental statue of the Greek hero Perseus with Medusa’s head. In HALL 3, Kunsthal Rotterdam is showing a varied selection of his wooden sculptures and reliefs. Balkenhol’s visual language is rooted in European art history, interspersed with influences from Ancient Egypt, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. At the same time they have an everyday quality that invites us to come up with our own interpretations.