Terry Setch

Last night I braved the rain to go see the Terry Setch private view at Flowers, Cork Street. Mayfair galleries have that knack of making me feel a bit nervous, mostly in a good way. Getting out of the tube at Green Park and weaving through London's smartest streets, you can't but help think that what you're about to see is going to be good, or at least, thought of as good by a lot of important people.

 Time is Running Out, 2010-11

The Tide Swallows the Shore, 2011

 

Tide Shift, 2012

Setch works by mixing traditional materials with found beach objects - rubbish and debris washed up by the tide. By doing so these works become thick with paint and matter, encrusted and textured to the point that they almost press up against their glass frames. Ironically, the canvases are often paper thin which I found interesting, as to me a few of them started to resemble beaten steel or metal.

 Mud Flats, 2011

Setch lives and works in South Wales, which might explain why his seascapes aren't exactly brimming with sunshine. They certainly seemed to bring the outdoors in to the little Cork Street gallery last night. I liked the paintings because they reminded me of Cornwall (for a change). Memories of driving to the sea and eating pasties in the car while the wind rattled it and us inside. Weather like this for example:

Photos taken during a summer holiday in Cornwall.

Apparently Setch is very inspired by Turner, and I think once you learn that, his work seems to fall in to place.

Snowstorm, 1842, J.M.W Turner

Setch is a Royal Academician, to learn more about him see here. Alternatively  the Flowers' press release is a good port of call.