Stephan Balkenhol 1 July – 3 September 2011 Opening: 1 July, 6 - 9 pm Gallery 2
Stephan Balkenhol’s work is focused on the objective representation of the human figure. His sculptures, mostly carved from wood with traditional tools, invariably reveal traces of their creation process and materiality, this tension between roughness and precision being a characteristic trait of his œuvre. Balkenhol’s creations exhibit proximity to portraiture, but are never stylized in an expressionistic or naturalistic direction. Liberated from their context, without any identifiers of subjective orientation or emotional state and free of personal or sociological references, his figures appear to be archetypal. They are shown in a state of indifference and allow for the viewer to see in them whatever he chooses to. Especially in his sculptures in public space, the average contemporary person becomes aggrandized, raised to monumental status. Balkenhol offers with his sculptures an exemplary formulation for modern man. The universal indeterminacy of his works emblematizes an essentially postmodern attitude towards life. Stephan Balkenhol is one of the internationally most important German sculptors whose work has been honored in many museum exhibitions. His sculptures are of a distinctly recognizable style and are exhibited in prominent collections and public space where they maintain the power to fascinate. Born in Fritzlar, Hessen, Balkenhol lives and works in Berlin, Karlsruhe and Meisental, France.
The Object of Observation (Canges By Being Observed) an exhibition curated by Tim Lee 1 July – 3 September 2011 Opening: 1 July, 6 - 9 pm Gallery 1
With subjects ranging from Alexander Rodchenko to Yvonne Rainer, and from Antony Gormley to Robert Smithson, "The Object of Observation (Changes By Being Observed)", curated by artist Tim Lee (b. 1975, Seoul, Korea), brings together works by Jennifer Bornstein, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Sam Durant, Ryan Gander, Mario Garcia Torres and Derek Sullivan. Working reflexively from the past, each of the artists in the exhibition, similarly to Lee with his own work, remake, regenerate and reconsider the work of other artists in order to articulate their own artistic practice. Citing "Subject Matter", Dan Graham's 1969 text that featured a survey of his artistic contemporaries as a starting point, the exhibition takes Graham's original title and uses the process of re-translation (from English "Subject Matter" to German "Betrachtungsgegenstand" and then back to English "The Object of Observation") in order to characterize the potential of a source manifesting itself in unpredictable ways and taking on an unrecognizable form. Featuring artworks that employ strategies of abstraction, figuration, appropriation and performance, each work investigates the formal and historical legacies of previous artworks in a purposeful attempt to re-orient our perceptions of them.
Johnen Galerie Marienstrasse 10 10117 Berlin [email protected] Tuesday - Saturday, 11 am - 6 pm
