An Intention to Being

This essay accompanied Desire Path, the final exhibition of work by Andrew Vass at ARTHOUSE1 Gallery, London, before he died. The essay explores the topic of the self in Vass's work, set against previous discussion of the landscape, memory and mapping in relation to his abstract paintings. Thanks to Rebecca Fairman, ARTHOUSE1 Gallery director, Nuala O'Donovan, exhibiting artist with Andrew Vass in Desire Path, and to Hephzibah Rendle-Short and Kate Palmer for the exhibition design. Curated by Jane Boyer. The work of Andrew Vass has often been discussed in relation to the landscape, in fact his work takes landscape as a referent, but in this essay I’d like to discuss Vass’s work in relation to self, for in his latest works, the metaphor of self appears like never before.