DECLIVIS

Conceptual Note

A vast field of deep red extends across STRATA IV — DECLIVIS, where the painterly material reveals a geography of layers and glazes. Acrylic and oil merge on canvas, constructing a vibrant surface that breathes with the pigment's density, suggesting a primal skin or ground. This contemporary abstract painting manifests as a territory of origin and transformation, aligning with Maurizio Valch's ongoing exploration of memory and materiality.

Across this expanse, thin, sinuous white lines, precisely drawn, break the color's continuity, like incisions carving through earth. These marks articulate space rather than merely dividing it, guiding the eye along a diagonal path. Puncturing this trajectory, four rectangular blocks of a more saturated crimson red emerge, simultaneously anchored and suspended, providing a formal solidity that contrasts with the lines' fluidity.

The interaction among the base color layers, incised lines, and textural blocks generates a stratified depth. This vertical material abstract painting employs tonal contrasts and evidence of impasto to create a visual tension, resolving into a contained and contemplative atmosphere. Maurizio Valch thus explores the concept of territory not as a landscape, but as a surface where memory and structure become visible, inviting silent reflection. The work sustains a tension between stillness and movement, revealing a brutalist form that, despite its rigor, retains a latent vitality. The result is an acrylic and oil on canvas composition where every element—from the canvas grain to the final stroke—contributes to the material presence of this red field.

The vast field of deep red extending across DECLIVIS, where acrylic and oil merge on canvas to construct a vibrant surface, sustains my affinity with Mark Rothko's immersive atmospheres. In this work, the density of the pigment creates a primal skin that invites silent reflection and contemplative depth, focusing the emotional weight within these layered red glazes to transform the canvas into a resonant space. This expansive field is organized by thin, sinuous white lines that break the color's continuity, reflecting the influence of Barnett Newman's minimal linear interventions. Rather than merely dividing the composition, these precise marks guide the eye along a diagonal path, turning the incision into a spatial event that structures the entire territory. Additionally, the presence of four rectangular blocks of a more saturated crimson red aligns with the structural balance found in the work of Nicolas de Staël. These compact elements emerge as both anchored and suspended forms, providing a formal solidity that contrasts with the lines' fluidity and generates a stark spatial tension against the underlying textured layers.