Exhibitions

Stephan Balkenhol & Andreas Eriksson

November 1 - 14, 2019

Ticolat Tamura is pleased to announce an exhibition in Hong Kong for two weeks in November 2019 with new sculptures by German artist Stephan Balkenhol and new paintings by Swedish artist Andreas Eriksson. A collaboration with Stephen Friedman Gallery in London, it marks the first time these two artists are shown together in Asia. Preceding the gallery’s inaugural participation in West Bund Art & Design in Shanghai, this presentation aims to further consolidate the reputations of Balkenhol and Eriksson in Asia. 

A group of four unique sculptures by Stephan Balkenhol of anonymous human figures on tall pedestals is presented, each hand-carved from singular blocks of poplar or wawa wood. The figures, two male and two female, wear simple clothing and adopt confident yet unassuming poses. The surface of each work is left rough, exposing the knots and cracks in the texture of the wood as well as the trace of the artist's tools. Also presented is an arresting freestanding male form wearing a black shirt and white trousers placed atop a trestle. This figure represents the universality of humanity and yet at the same time he remains a stranger to the viewer. 

A celebrated sculptor, Balkenhol is recognised not only for the technical prowess with which he hand carves each of his wooden sculptures, but also for his devotion to exploring figuration in contemporary art. In 2019, Balkenhol had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Sepulchral Culture, Kassel, Germany and was included in the group show ‘A Cool Breeze’ at Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic. 

‘Semaphore Lidan’ is a majestic large-scale painting by Andreas Eriksson featuring the earthy tones typical of the artist’s work above a sea of deep inky blue. Bursts of primrose are also interspersed with the near-translucent washings of taupe and charcoal scattered across the top of the canvas. In this work, the viewer is drawn into a richly coloured and conceptual investigation of the Swedish artist’s surroundings. A Nordic vista crystallises in the viewer’s mind, while the brushstrokes on the canvas remain varied and interpretative. Also presented are two series of richly coloured medium and smaller scale paintings that hover enigmatically between abstraction and figuration. 

Working deep in the Swedish countryside, Eriksson’s strength lies in his ability to elicit a palpable sense of place whilst remaining resolutely abstract. His paintings reveal stark combinations of colour and texture; thinly applied fields of paint sit alongside pronounced areas of thick impasto, resembling both organic forms and aerial, topographical views. This new body of work follows a solo exhibition at Braunsfelder Family Collection, Cologne, Germany earlier this year and precedes the artist’s fourth solo exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery in spring 2020 of a new body of tapestries.