Stephan Balkenhol

Stephan Balkenhol (born 1957) is a German artist who creates figurative painted wooden sculptures and reliefs.

Early life Balkenhol was born in 1957 in Fritzlar, Hesse.

Career He is currently a professor of sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe (Germany). He lives and works in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Meisenthal, France.

Artistic style Balkenhol's work adopts a figurative artistic style, which typically depicts people in a neutral, objective way by removing socio-critical references.

Balkenhol uses a variety of woods, such as poplar, Douglas fir, and wawa wood. He hand-carves each piece from a single block. He uses paint to structure the sculpture.

Artist's public installations Balkenhol has completed a number of public commissions in his career. Among them are the “Big Head Column” for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice, Italy), “Big Man with a Little Man” for Pariser Platz (Berlin, Germany), “Man and Woman” for Hamburg Central Library (Hamburg, Germany), “Everyman” for the Edinburgh City Council Offices (Edinburgh, Scotland) and “Toronto Man” (Toronto, Canada).