The human being is at the center of Stephan Balkenhol’s (史蒂芬·巴尔肯霍尔) work. Mostly he is alone, but now and then he can be accompanied by animals or architectural elements. The figures we encounter in his roughly hewn and painted wood or bronze sculptures are anonymous, reserved, even emotionless. A man holds a mask before his face, almost like a mirror of himself. A distorted image, the imagination? The motif of a man with a mask appears more often in Stephan Balkenhol’s work. A unique piece of wood entitled Man with Mask from 1995 is in the renowned Baloise art collection.

Balkenhol captures unremarkable moments. The people he depicts are completely absorbed in themselves. They seem calm, unbiased, distanced. Their gaze, although directed at us, often seems empty. This further intensifies their astonishing mysteriousness. When Balkenhol studied with Ulrich Rückriem and Sigmar Polke at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts, his figurative compositions ran counter to the prevailing abstract art and conceptual art.

His works are not portraits in the concrete sense: they do not represent anyone in particular, nor are they signs or symbols of people.

The “Basler Versicherungs-Gesellschaft gegen Feuerschaden”, founded in 1863, has long had an extensive art collection and also awards scholarships. Today it is known as Baloise Group AG and operates in four countries. The insurance company invests a quarter of a million Swiss francs annually in its art collection.
From 22 October 2020 to 28 February 2021, the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg is showing a comprehensive exhibition of Stephan Balkenhol’s work, which was created in close collaboration with the artist. GALERIE FRANK FLUEGEL is presenting the newly published Bronze Man with Mask.