(Fritzlar 1957- lives in Karlsruhe and Meisenthal)
Frau vor hellblauem Hintergrund (Woman against a light blue background), 2005, carved and painted wood, 80 x 60 x 2.6 cm

Provenance:
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg
Private Collection, UK (acquired from the above in 2006)

Exhibited:
Salzburg, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Villa Kast, Stephan Balkenhol New Sculptures, 2005;
Osaka, The National Museum of Art, Stephan Balkenhol: Sculptures and Reliefs, 2005, page 61 (illustrated in colour)

As one of Germany’s most celebrated contemporary sculptors, Stephan Balkenhol is recognised on an international scale, and his works have been incorporated into renowned collections such as the Musée des Beaux Arts de Montréal, the Smithsonian Institution, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and The National Museum of Art, Osaka and Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice.
Best known for his sculptures, reliefs, busts and figures carved from single pieces of wood, he is interested in figuration and the representation of the human body or face - a fascination which ​began in the mid-eighties after studying at the Hamburg School of Art, under the guidance of his tutors Nam June Paik and Sigmar Polke. During his time as a student he was heavily exposed to abstract, minimalist and conceptual approaches to art, leaving him with the feeling that there was a distinct absence of figuration in contemporary art, and thus fostering his ambition to reintroduce figuration to art through his own practice.

The present work comprises a portrait of a woman whose face and bust have been gouged out of a piece of wood and then further accentuated through the application of coloured paint. In line with Balkenhol’s usual practice, the figure is anonymous and the artist has purposefully depicted her with an inexpressive demeanour and in plain and unassuming clothes. In this way, we are given no indication into her character or occupation; she is an everyday woman without narrative, on whom the viewer can project their own image.