Xinyi Cheng tackles the genre of portraiture and imbues it with psychology, social relations, and personal fascination. As a female painter mainly choosing male models, she subverts the archetypal relation that has prevailed in this genre for centuries. The portraits are painted in undefined settings and range from classic compositions to extreme close-ups. The pictorial treatment varies from flat to detailed, from thin to thick, and from realistic to symbolic. Depicted in unrealistic but expressive colors, always mastered as an attractive combination and palette, the subjects of Xinyi Cheng's works are as much represented as they are fantasized.

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 works of Xinyi Cheng were presented to the collection of the Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Gallery: Balice Hertling, Paris, France

Jury members:
Marie-Noëlle Farcy, Curator/Head of Collection, MUDAM, Luxembourg; Gabriele Knapstein, Head of Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin; Harald Falckenberg, Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg; Lionel Bovier, Director Musée d'art moderne et contemporain (MAMCO), Geneva and Martin Schwander, Fine Art Advisor of Baloise, Chairman of the jury.