The art of Donald Andrus defies categorization. Although principally known for his abstract paintings, Andrus has, throughout his career, combined his first love — drawing — with a deep engagement with colour, a desire for experimentation, a keen interest in the physical qualities of his materials, and the sensory experience of the viewer.


Donald Andrus: The Shape of Desire brings together four major essays, including one by the artist, and more than eighty full-colour reproductions to assess a body of work that extends from abstract paintings to portraits. Roslyn Rosenfeld writes about Andrus’s early abstract work, Ihor Holubizky considers Andrus’s portraits, and Pan Wendt revisits Andrus’s contemporary abstract paintings. Taken together, the essays and images take full measure of the entirety of Andrus’s career and influences — from the landscapes of Greece and the poetry of George Seferis to the cinematic works of Andrei Tarkovsky and the pioneering work of contemporary German artists Gerhard Richter and Anselm Kiefer.

Donald Andrus has been painting for over thirty-five years. His work has been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout Canada and may be found in both private and public collections. He has previously worked as a curator at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, as a lecturer at the University of New Brunswick, and as a professor of art history at Concordia University. Andrus now lives and works in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Visual artist(s): Donald Andrus