Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac is delighted to present an exhibition of new works by German sculptor Stephan Balkenhol.

For this exhibition, Balkenhol has drawn his inspiration from the approach of French author Jean de La Fontaine in his famous Fables. The 17th century writer’s critical look on the society of his time and on the permanence of human traits becomes a means for the sculptor to question the state of our current society.

If the new works do not necessarily relate to a particular fable, they present the same ambiguous relationship between the animals and humans of La Fontaine’s Fables. Like the fabulist, who exercises the art of elusiveness to give the reader a freedom of interpretation, Balkenhol does not seek to be moralistic. He aspires to engage in a more direct relationship with man through the image. Despite his attachment to figuration, he always places himself at a distance from reality. His sometimes ironic take and apparent playful treatment brings him closer to the fabulist. For him, “to observe is not to judge”. Because they do not represent anyone in particular and often seem to expect something, his sculptures touch upon fiction; they are somehow characters in an undefined story.