Stephan Balkenhol has been making figurative sculptures since the early 1980s when Minimalism and the Conceptual Art dominated the art scene. Cut from soft wood such as poplar with a power saw, and shaped solely by chisel and hammer, his figures are covered with the marks of a cutting tool. Although they evoke the tradition of German figurative sculpture in wood and the expressionist heritage, Balkenhol's people are neither idealized nor individualized but short and homely creatures who could easily get lost in a crowd. They have been described as "German Expressionism without the expressionism." Balkenhol keeps producing such "everyman" figure, changing their sizes and postures. Standing Man in the exhibition is a work typical of his oeuvres. (JB)

(Born in Fritzlar, Hessen, Germany, 1957, and lives in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Meisenthal, France)