Daysleepers presents seven young artists working with a new understanding of realism. Their often photorealistic paintings are not straightforward reproductions of experienced reality but instead reveal themselves as enigmatic constructs of the imagination. These are sequences from hermetic worlds that resonate with the viewer beyond their narrative content.

The exhibition introduces the diversity of current figurative painting, with works that—much like in the exhibition Magritte. The Key of Dreams—suggest visual worlds somewhere between the real and the surreal. All the young painters portray counter-worlds: paradisiacal landscapes, disrupted by eerie moods and lurking dangers, always at risk of throwing a “conflict-free” world out of balance.

The featured positions clearly distance themselves from the figurative tendencies of the 1980s, which were still shaped by expressionism, rawness, and archaism—think of the Neue Wilde, Heftige Malerei, Transavanguardia. In contrast to the emotionality and expressive gestures of that time, today’s artists embrace cool objectivity and a photographic gaze—one that does not deny the reality-producing and reality-concealing potential of omnipresent visual media.

With this first exhibition in the tresor at the BA-CA Kunstforum, the foundation is also laid for the space’s future programming: to present young Austrian art in the context of current international movements.

ADAM ADACH
(born 1962 in Warsaw, Poland, lives and works in Paris)
Adam Adach’s works are characterized by the painterly process itself—by the flowing brushstroke and the dripping oil paint. Tensions arise between abstract painting and photorealistic imagery. His narrative dimension is shaped by mystical, threatening scenarios: sublime cloud formations or the darkness of a forest. A seaplane has landed on a lake—it appears ghostly; a forest floor seems to bend, turning into a dynamic vortex that engulfs a tiny wanderer.

TILO BAUMGÄRTEL
(born 1972 in Leipzig, Germany, lives and works in Leipzig)
Tilo Baumgärtel invites viewers into dream worlds where disconnected motifs and scenes collide like a collage, forming a new, unsettling reality: futuristic racing boats stranded in a flooded forest, stage sets drifting on water, train cars and buses perched on brick pedestals. The vivid artificial palette—sulfur yellow, pop pink, mercury grey—intensifies the surreal effect on the painted canvas.

FRANZ BAUMGARTNER
(born 1962 in Kleve, Germany, lives and works in Cologne)
Franz Baumgartner’s gaze is drawn to the vastness of landscape. Rather than pursuing a sober photorealistic execution, he paints blurred renditions of seascapes and highway sections in a romantic atmosphere. The romantic notion of landscape naturally intertwines with the image of modern infrastructure—namely, the road.

PETER BUSCH
(born 1971 in Sondershausen/Thuringia, Germany, lives and works in Leipzig)
Peter Busch’s paintings depict lyrical, fairytale-like counter-worlds filled with stillness and reverie, far from the bustle of the big city. He places his protagonists as miniatures into expansive landscapes on his panels—visibly isolated—enhancing the expressive force of nature itself. In a reduced palette of greys, blues, and greens, Busch sensitively modulates the surface with softly nuanced zones of sfumato, giving the painting a rich, impressionistic texture.

BÉATRICE DREUX
(born 1972 in Versailles, Île-de-France, France, lives and works in Vienna)
In her recent paintings, Béatrice Dreux explores a concept of landscape that merges elements of photography and pure painting. She draws particular reference to Gustave Le Gray, a 19th-century photography pioneer, and Caspar David Friedrich with his nocturnal landscapes. While her earlier work featured vigorous brushwork, she has since shifted toward a more restrained approach, creating atmospheric, spatial compositions built on subtle painterly moods.

MARTIN SCHNUR
(born 1964 in Vorau, Styria, Austria, lives and works in Vienna)
Martin Schnur lends a sense of power and uncertainty to his romantically tinted forest scenes, intensified by the presence of a hovering disco ball. Surreally embedded in the otherwise naturalistic setting, it disturbs the image’s harmony. Schnur’s portraits and figurative works radiate melancholy and daydream-like introspection, often infused with a threatening, mystical aura—for example, when the flowing blond hair of a half-naked girl morphs into a monstrous shape in its shadow image, one that might be read as a mammoth, an angel’s wing, or an eagle’s feather, depending on the viewer’s interpretation.

TIM STONER
(born 1970 in London, UK, lives and works in London and Ronda, Spain)
Tim Stoner’s painted figures and scenes are highly stylized; facial features dissolve into a general, surface-oriented structure of the human form set in monochromatic darkness. Once again, Stoner leads us into dreamlike realms: beaches, swimming pools, idealized family moments. He illuminates—indeed, elevates—his painted scenes to a meta-level. Time seems to stand still, far removed from the stress of all-inclusive short breaks filled with “must-do” activities.