Terry Setch studied at Sutton and Cheam School of Art, 1950-54 and Slade School of Fine Art 1956-60.
He lives in Penarth, Wales and draws inspiration from his surroundings. Employing diverse materials, he explores the tensions between society and the natural world. The painted surfaces of his large scale works are often amplified with found matter, which articulates an atmosphere of elemental and emotional turmoil.
Although Setch’s small scale paintings, prints and drawings are more literal, they are rooted in the same Romantic tradition.
Born: 1936 in Lewisham, London, England, United Kingdom
Nationality: British
Elected RA: 28 May 2009
Elected Senior RA: 1 October 2011
Gender: Male
Preferred media: Painting
The ancient Egyptians painted with hot wax and so did Jasper Johns in his iconic Flag paintings. The technique is called encaustic, after the Greek word for “burned in”.
Terry Setch RA has been painting in encaustic for 40 years. Here he demonstrates some of the wax-wrangling techniques he uses to create his multi-layered and richly textured paintings.
2014 Flower’s East, London
2012 Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold
2012 Flowers Gallery, Cork Street, London
2010 Art Space Gallery, London
2009 Art Space Gallery, London
2008 Art Space Gallery, London
2006 Tate Britain, London
Glynn Viivian Art Gallery, Swansea
2004 Campden Gallery, Chipping Campden
2001 Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK
Howard Gardens Gallery, University of Wales Cardiff
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea
2015 Reality: Modern and Contemporary British Painting, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2014 Reality: Modern and Contemporary British Painting, Sainsbury Centre, UEA, Norwich, Norfolk
2014 Power of the Sea, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2013 TRANSITION, The Inner Image Revisited, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
2012 New Ground: Landscape Art in Wales since 1970, Oriel y Parc, St David’s, Wales
2012 Going Modern: The Struggle for Abstract Art in Wales, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
2012 New Perspectives: Landscape Art in Wales since the 1970s, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
2010 Sea Fever, Southampton City Art Gallery
2009 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
2006 Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Terry Setch, James Boswell, Square 1 Gallery, London
2005 Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Site-Actions International Europe, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff
2004 Naked, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2003 Small is Beautiful, Flowers East, London
Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Broken Ground, Tate Gallery, London
Terry Setch RA is an avid beachcomber often found scouring the grayscale beaches of Wales’ industrial coastline. Exploring the battle between land and sea, he is fascinated by society’s tumultuous relationship with nature.
This year we inspected the fine line between the Muppets and fine art, explored a gooey-looking painting technique from ancient Egypt and quizzed you on your knowledge of artists’ musings – versus those of Donald Drumpf. These are some of the RA articles and videos you loved most in 2017.
Encaustic is an ancient painting method in which wax and pigment are fused onto a surface with heat. Watch a demonstration of this versatile technique by Royal Academician Terry Setch, recorded in his Cardiff studio.
Continuing our series on artists’ epiphanies, Sam Phillips visits the Welsh beach that transformed Setch’s art.
Terry Setch painted ‘Smoked Out’ for the exhibition Images of Paradise held at Harewood House, Yorkshire, in 1989. The exhibition was organised by Survival International, a group dedicated to protecting the lives, culture, and land of tribal peoples.
