Cathy Wilkes poetic work stakes out threatened terrain in the fine arts. In opposition to documentary or social analysis, Wilkes experimentally articulates autonomous works whose materiality and patina lend them a value of their own. But the artist does not lose sight of social reality: her works refer to the role of the woman artist; her recycled objects define the spaces of life and explore both her own body and the alien male body. The use of various modes of production is almost like a casual by-product of these concerns: horizontal, vertical, bent sculptures; the concealment and exposure of painting. Through an impressively precise treatment of materials, Wilke creates emotionally charged, highly poetic experiential spaces for her viewers.

In addition to the cash prize, Baloise acquires a group of works by the award winners and donates them to two important European museums. The work of Cathy Wilkes was presented to the collection of the S.M.A.K. Gent, Belgium.

Gallery: The Modern Institute, Glasgow

Members of the Jury:
Christoph Heinrich, Curator of the Galerie der Gegenwart, Hamburger Kunsthalle; Jan Hoet, Director, Stedelijk Museum Voor Actuele Kunst, Gent; Maja Oeri, Chairwoman of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, Basel; Stephan Schmidt-Wulffen, Rector of the Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna and Martin Schwander, Fine Art Advisor of the Baloise, Chairman of the jury.