Maurizio Valch Abstract Painting / Territory and Thought
A vertical abstract painting featuring diagonal planes in ochre, brown, and dark blue. At the top, a dark rectangular block rests against a hazy yellow background. Fine incised white lines outline the edges of the color fields as they zigzag downward. In the bottom right corner, a small, bright white rectangle with clean edges stands out. The surface shows subtle textures and scraped marks.
Maurizio Valch, TENSUM. Oil and acrylic on canvas. Ochre and dark blue color fields divided by linear incisions and framed by contrasting blocks of shadow and light.
Photograph of a contemporary art gallery with light wood floors. In the foreground, a woman dressed in a black coat walks in profile with a soft motion blur effect. In the background, hanging on a white wall, a vertical abstract painting with diagonal bands in ochre, brown, and dark blue stands out. The painting shows a small dark block at the top and a bright white rectangle at the bottom right.
Maurizio Valch, TENSUM. Installation view in a contemporary gallery context, highlighting the vertical format and the composition of diagonal planes in ochre and dark blue with subtle surface incisions.
A low-angle photograph of a vertical abstract painting leaning directly against a gallery wall, resting on the floor. The artwork features diagonal planes in ochre and dark blue, partitioned by thin incised lines. In the background, a spacious contemporary art gallery is visible, with wooden beams, stairs, and a skylight casting soft, diffused light across the concrete interior.
Maurizio Valch, TENSUM. Oil and acrylic on canvas. A floor-level view inside a contemporary gallery, highlighting the vertical scale of the painting, its ochre and deep blue color fields, and the visible physical depth of the unframed edge.
An angled view inside an art gallery showing a vertical painting in ochre and blue hanging on an exposed concrete column. The composition features sharp diagonal incised lines, a dark rectangular block at the top, and a small luminous rectangle in the lower right corner. The space includes a polished terrazzo floor, a white door, and an industrial ceiling with exposed ducts and track lighting.
Maurizio Valch, TENSUM. Oil and acrylic on canvas. Ochre and dark blue color fields structured by incisions, presented in a minimalist gallery setting.
A contemporary art gallery interior displaying a vertical abstract painting titled TENSUM by Maurizio Valch on a central white partition wall. The artwork features diagonal blocks of ochre and dark blue with fine linear incisions and a small bright white rectangle in the lower right corner. The gallery setting includes a raw concrete column on the left, dark wood parquet flooring, a simple wooden bench, and a large window in the background admitting natural light.
Maurizio Valch, TENSUM. Installation view of the artwork in a contemporary gallery. Oil and acrylic on canvas. Ochre and dark blue color fields structured with linear diagonal incisions.
Low-angle view of a vertical abstract painting mounted on a raw grey concrete gallery wall. The artwork features diagonal bands of ochre, brown, and dark blue partitioned by light incised lines, with a dark block at the top and a small white rectangle at the bottom right. A light wood floor in the foreground recedes toward the background beneath a ceiling equipped with black directional track lighting.
Perspective side view of the abstract painting TENSUM installed in a contemporary concrete gallery. The vertical oil and acrylic composition features ochre and dark blue planes divided by subtle linear incisions.

Published work / STRATA

TENSUM

Angular planes, linear incisions, and the suspended tension between matter and light.

Medium
Mixed Media
Size
31.5 × 47.2 in / 80 × 120 cm
Series
STRATA Painting series STRATA 2026–Present · 13 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
Orientation
Vertical
Context studies
6

Conceptual Note

A dark block anchors the upper portion of the composition. Below this dense volume, the structure unfolds through color fields of earthy ochre and deep indigo blue, balanced by a hazy, muted yellow field at the top. In the opposite corner, a small, luminous rectangle of bright white and blue light emerges, challenging the visual weight of the mass above.

The eye follows a descending zigzag path. Broad diagonal bands of color traverse the vertical format, strictly bounded by fine incised lines that act as physical sutures on the pictorial surface. These graphic markings emphasize the spatial divisions, punctuating the transition of color with a geologic precision.

The space presents itself as a sedimented structure where the materials accumulate a sense of time. Through successive layers, scrapings, and glazes, the canvas acquires a tactile, weathered quality reminiscent of eroded soil, aligning this contemporary abstract painting with the STRATA series' exploration of memory within a physical territory. The monolithic shapes do not illustrate a specific place but instead manifest an internal architecture of enduring forces.

This minimalist abstract art finishes in a play of suspended tensions. The heavy presence of the upper block finds its counterbalance in the lower focal light, leaving the textured painting with incised lines caught in a quiet vibration between its surface markings and the depth of the blue.

Artist influences

In TENSUM, the dark block anchoring the upper portion of the composition and the opposing luminous rectangle of white and blue light establish a dialogue of dense chromatic masses, channeling the spatial logic of Nicolas de Staël where monolithic shapes function as an internal architecture of enduring forces. The vertical composition divides into balanced fields of earthy ochre, deep indigo, and hazy, muted yellow, transforming these color volumes into a heavily structured pictorial territory. This structural buildup is inseparable from a weathered, tactile surface that shares the material sensibilities of Antoni Tàpies, achieved through successive layers, scrapings, and glazes. The canvas accumulates a sense of time, its physical quality evoking eroded soil and turning the surface into a sedimented repository of memory. Furthermore, the physical sutures created by the fine incised lines that strictly bound the diagonal bands of color echo the structural tensions of Alberto Burri. These graphic markings puncture the sedimented layers to guide the eye along a descending zigzag path, keeping the heavy mass of the upper block and the quiet depth of the blue in a state of suspended vibration and precise, geologic order.

All declared affinities