Laura Owens is a painter who shows sensitivity and refreshing verve in pursuing the Californian tradition of the artistic treatment of light and space. Her mostly large-format pictures rest on the borderline between figuration and abstraction, between line and volume; they embody a highly personal approach to painting. Delicate colors and forms, in which transformation is inherent, open up breathing visual spaces that appear both vulnerable and resolute.

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

Gallery: Gavin Brown's enterprise, New York

Jury members:
Heinz Ackermans, collector, London / Xanten; Bernhard Bürgi, director of the Kunsthalle Zürich; Madeleine Grynsztejn, conservator at the Carnegie Museum of Art and curator of the 99/00 Carnegie International Exhibition, Pittsburgh; and Martin Schwander, independent art consultant of Bâloise, Chairman of the jury.