ANDRÉ STITT
Merthyrtopia

TEN announces a new solo exhibition of paintings by André Stitt

TEN is delighted to present a new solo exhibition of paintings by André Stitt, marking the artist’s seventh solo show with the gallery. Represented by TEN since 2013, Stitt has become a defining presence within its programme. For regular visitors, his name evokes bold abstraction, an exuberant use of paint, and an unmistakable energy that radiates from each work.

Over the past decade, Stitt has immersed himself in the visual language of new-era modernism and the architectural forms of the 20th century. His paintings have drawn on Californian kit houses, New Towns, estates, tower blocks and the fading optimism of civic concrete—structures born from post-war visions of progress, community and a reimagined future.

This long-running exploration is rooted in Stitt’s own childhood in 1970s Belfast, during the height of the Troubles. The landscape of his youth—Formica-filled tower blocks standing alongside military watchtowers—left a lasting imprint. Throughout his practice, architecture becomes a lens through which to consider how structures shape environments, communities and the people who inhabit them. Though his works depict forms and buildings, they ultimately speak to human experience: how we live within, around and in response to the spaces that surround us.

His new body of work, Merthyrtopia, reflects a significant shift in Stitt’s life and artistic environment. In 2023, he relocated from central Cardiff to a 1971 architect-designed home in Merthyr Tudful, nestled in the Taf Valley on the edge of Bannau Brycheiniog. The house—single-storey, mono-pitched, with bare brick interiors and wood-panelled ceilings—embodies the architectural ideals of its era. Thoughtfully designed, it resonates strongly with Stitt’s long-standing fascination with modernist visions of a “New Future.”

Positioned above the town, the house looks out across a sweeping, verdant valley. From the temporary attic studio, a window frames the hill opposite; the distinctive dipped-V of the ridgeline—where two mountains meet—has become a recurring motif in the new paintings. Surrounded by a generous garden of trees, foliage and flowers, the house offers uninterrupted views of nature and expansive sky. Its sharp, geometric lines sit in dynamic contrast to the organic movement of the landscape.

These elements surface vividly in the new works. Nature appears through loose, expressive brushwork, while the valley’s dipped-V cuts sharply through the composition. The house itself is distilled into angular, flattened forms—an interplay of structure and environment.

Merthyrtopia—a term coined by Stitt, now both the name of the house and the title of this series—captures the profound influence of his new surroundings. It marks a moment of renewal: a personal and artistic “New Future,” a utopia of his own making.

TEN Gallery