better day

Bernhard Beyer – better day, 2023
Tempera auf Papier, 110 × 75 cm

Is today really better, or is it just an illusion? Better Day quietly carries this question within, like a hesitant promise yet to be spoken aloud.

Scratched, tentative brushstrokes in soft pastel tones stretch across the canvas. Ochre, blue, pink, and broken shades of yellow and gray overlap without dissolving. A subtle hint of gray dampens the brightness of the colors, lending the work a quiet melancholy. Yet, even in this restraint, something delicate and hopeful remains, as if the painting has not yet lost its courage.

Up close, the colors reveal themselves to be pure pigments that vary in intensity and are sometimes hastily applied. They touch and overlap at the edges yet remain independent. The gaze wanders, following one color, losing it, and finding another. Some areas seem almost casual, as if applied quickly and decisively, perhaps under time pressure. It’s as if the artist had to capture something before it disappeared.

From a distance, the image begins to open up. Abstraction tips over into memory. Dark drops appear, scattered across the surface like signs or eyes. Initially enigmatic, they eventually become orderly. They do not adhere to a single perspective but rather traverse all planes—front, back, and in between. They anchor the space while simultaneously dissolving it.

Colors rise upward, defying gravity. The image must have been rotated at least once. The painting has lost its orientation—or has deliberately abandoned it. In some areas, the brushstrokes become denser, more compact, and intense—almost urgent. Like a rumor that grows louder. Like a thought that can no longer be suppressed.

Better Day does not speak of certainty. It speaks of searching, layering, hesitation, and moving on. It speaks of the space between yesterday and tomorrow. Those who engage with the painting will find no clear answers, only a depth that sustains. Perhaps this is precisely where the hope for a better day lies.