Maurizio Valch Abstract Painting / Territory and Thought
Horizontal abstract painting featuring a vast field in reddish-brown tones. Rectangular color blocks are prominent: a large bright turquoise one in the upper left, a smaller red one in the upper right, and another red block next to a black block in the lower center. A black rectangular shape is in the lower right. Thin white incised lines cross the surface horizontally, suggesting strata. Texture is visible within the color fields.
STRATA XIII — FISSURA by Maurizio Valch. An abstract painting exploring the tension between deep color fields, structural forms, and incised lines, characteristic of his STRATA series.
Close-up of Maurizio Valch's abstract painting, "STRATA XIII — FISSURA". The canvas surface features rich dark red tones and visible texture. Thin, pale incised lines cross the surface and the canvas edge. A vibrant turquoise rectangular block with red accents is visible in the upper left, while a smaller red block appears in the lower right.
Close-up of the material surface of Maurizio Valch's "STRATA XIII — FISSURA", where incised lines interact with color blocks against a reddish background.
Detail of an abstract painting by Maurizio Valch. The reddish, textured surface shows fine incisions and a rectangular block in turquoise blue with red undertones.
STRATA XIII — FISSURA: a pictorial territory where light reveals layers, incisions, and the tension between color fields, inviting a material and contemplative reading.
Horizontal abstract painting with a dark reddish main color field. It features irregular incised lines crossing the composition. In the upper left, a rectangular turquoise blue block. Other small red and black squares are distributed across the material surface. The artwork shows layers of acrylic and oil.
STRATA XIII — FISSURA reveals an abstract territory where incised lines and color blocks contrast against a reddish background. Acrylic and oil on canvas by Maurizio Valch. Part of the STRATA series.
Horizontal abstract painting by Maurizio Valch, STRATA XIII — FISSURA, dominated by a deep red field. It features fine incised lines and a contrasting indigo blue rectangular block. The surface is textured with red and black elements.
STRATA XIII — FISSURA, an abstract work by Maurizio Valch, invites contemplation of a deep red field intersected by incised forms and a blue contrast, revealing the density of its surface.
Close-up view of an abstract painting. A dark crimson field dominates, with a vibrant, rough-textured turquoise blue rectangular block inserted in the upper center. Fine, light-colored incised lines cross the surface horizontally. A small red block rests on a black base in the lower right. Canvas texture and layers of acrylic and oil paint are visible.
STRATA XIII — FISSURA, an acrylic and oil painting on canvas by Maurizio Valch. This detail highlights its material surface, featuring a vibrant turquoise blue block set against a deep crimson field, delineated by fine incisions.
Low-angle view of a large horizontal painting leaning against an exposed brick wall. The artwork, "STRATA XIII — FISSURA," features an intense crimson background with a central turquoise rectangle and smaller red and black blocks. Fine white incised lines cross the surface. A concrete floor and a ceiling with lights are visible.
The materiality of STRATA XIII — FISSURA asserts itself in this industrial setting, where the crimson field and the turquoise and reddish blocks engage in dialogue with the texture of the brick and concrete.

Published work / STRATA

FISSURA

Part of the STRATA series, an exploration of divided territories and material structures.

Size
47.2 × 31.5 in / 120 × 80 cm
Series
STRATA Painting series STRATA 2026–Present · 14 works Maurizio Valch's STRATA series features contemporary abstract painting, showcasing artwork with stratified surfaces. Crafted with acrylic and oil on canvas, this series stands out for its dense chromatic fields and profound incisions, evoking an inner, archetypal territory. View series
Context studies
7

Conceptual Note

In STRATA XIII — FISSURA, a vibrant turquoise block emerges in the upper left, immediately capturing attention across a vast field of deep earth tones. This luminous point of color rests on a horizontally extending surface, defined by fine incised lines that score the canvas, suggesting strata or geological divisions.

The composition is balanced by other chromatic blocks: intense red accents and dark forms distributed throughout the canvas, generating visual tension and a spatial narrative that unfolds horizontally. Each form, with its own texture and outline, seems to float or anchor within this color plane. The predominant palette of earthy reds and dark browns creates a sober and contained atmosphere, where the pictorial matter reveals layers and traces of the artistic process. Acrylic and oil fuse on the canvas, building a surface that evokes the density of an eroded territory, an inner geography where shapes and 'fissures' organize the space.

The artwork invites quiet contemplation, revealing a brutalist structure and territorial abstraction characteristic of Maurizio Valch’s STRATA series. The interplay between color fields, incised lines, and blocks establishes a visual dialogue between stillness and fracture, surface and depth.

The territorial abstraction of FISSURA, which evokes the density of an eroded territory and an inner geography through its horizontally extending surface, aligns with the landscape-informed abstraction of Richard Diebenkorn. Here, the vast field of deep earth tones, earthy reds, and dark browns establishes a sober, contained atmosphere where the physical canvas mimics a geological expanse. This expansive, quiet color field is minimally structured by fine incised lines that score the surface, echoing the linear interventions of Barnett Newman to organize the composition. In this work, these thin scored lines and physical fissures divide the horizontal plane, creating a quiet tension between surface divisions and the deeper, underlying strata. Within this structured territory, the strategic placement of a vibrant turquoise block in the upper left along with intense red accents recalls the spatial tension of Nicolas de Staël. These distinct, textured chromatic blocks float and anchor within the earthy background, balancing the overall abstraction with a brutalist sense of structure.