(born in Fritzlar in 1957)
Dancers, 1996, oil on carved wawa wood, 158.5 x 33.5 x 24 cm (figure 38 cm)

Provenance:
Galerie Mai 36, Zurich
Private Collection Northern Germany - acquired from the above

Exhibited/Literature:
Wuppertal, Von der Heydt-Museum / Wuppertal-Barmen, Kunsthalle im Haus der Jugend, 17 Mai - 28 June 1998, Stephan Balkenhol: Skulpturen, exhib. cat. p. 37 (colour ill.) and p. 59.
This Exhibition later travelled to Bremen, Gerhard Marcks-Haus, 5 July - 6 September 1998 and Kleve, Museum Kurhaus - Ewald Mataré - Sammlung, 20 September - 29 November 1998

Unspectacular, distant and modest – that is how the dancing couple by the artist Stephan Balkenhol appears.
The sculptor is one of the most internationally renowned German representatives of contemporary sculpture. The sub- or out-sized human figure has been the determining factor in his work since the early 1980s. He hammers his figures out of a single block of wood using a mallet and chisel. Scores, scratches, splinters and cracks remain visible. He is careful to ensure that his figures are not smooth and perfect, but that the sculptural working process always remains visible. The contrast between the expressive surface and the expressionless facial expression and gestures of the depicted figure is fascinating.

The chisel marks give them an individuality that is in direct contrast with the universal character of the human figure and its prototypical exterior. All of them are anonymous, ordinary average types. The restrained gestures and serene outward appearance are characteristic of the artist. They seem to be introverted and untouched by what is happening around them. They are strange and familiar to us at the same time.
The present work surprises us with a new aspect of this theme – interacting figures. It comes from a series of ten dancing couples. The couples’ workmanship seems uneasy, their surfaces impressionistically roughened.

They seem isolated from their surroundings and completely absorbed in their dance. Like the individual figures, these groups seem strangely absent, often even looking past each other. Their dance poses are uncomplicated. They seem rather simple and almost clumsy. The sparse expressive elements are again characteristic of the artist. As usual, a certain distance is maintained. The desired effect of the vague, indeterminate, and enraptured remains.