Mats Theselius
Swedish furniture design has always been about dynamism and immaculate craftsmanship. Nobody portrays that better than Mats Theselius – the pioneer of furniture making from Sweden. Mats Theselius also designs pots, jewelry and other beautiful designs that are extremely practical yet notably stylish and elegant.
Theselius’ birthplace is Stockholm and he currently resides in Tomelilla. He studied at Konstfackskolan, industriel design school popularly called HD
K and also taught there for quite a while. Theselius started with his own designing only in 1985, when he was twenty nine years old. Mats Theselius's first collection was called Älgskinnsfåtöljen –a series of three hundred and sixty chairs which kind of looks like a cylinder cut in the front so you can sit “inside” it on the leather couch.
One of the most “talked about” works of Mats Theselius is the Hermit’s Cabin he designed along with Arvesund Tradesign. It is a little barn house that was inspired by the little homes they saw on the countryside. It is made up of mostly recycled materials. It is an old house remade in a new fashion. They have shipped such cabins around the world since the last eight years.
Mats Theselius series “National Armchairs” received great recognition. Among other notable collections of his are the Atlantic Chair, The Mindball Chair, The Rex Chair and the Theselius Chair.
The Atlantic Chair is essentially an easy chair with the seats made of leather and the arm rests are made of walnut, oak or ash. He made three hundred and sixty pieces of this impressive beauty. The chair talks volumes about Theselius’ manner of design and his capability to make furniture look not too complicated yet classy.
Another of his brilliant creation is the Theselius Herbarium Writing Desk. What is great about this desk is that it has no drawers or cases to keep stuff in right where your legs should be! Instead, this desk comes with a drawer under the glass top which can be pulled out and in with ease. It is like inserting and ejecting a videotape, for some perspective. This is a typical Theselius artwork because he always insisted on doing what is sensible than have clutter in his designs.
There were a lot of exhibitions that Theselius was involved in like the Architecture Gallery in Gothenburg in 1989 and The Russian Architecture Gallery in 1991 in Moscow, the Tandan Gallery in Stockholm in 1991, etc. These were his individual exhibitions. He also had other exhibitions were his excellence was showcased among many others. These include the Good Design 1995 exhibition in Chicago, Smart China exhibition in a place called Gallerie Arosa 2000 in Franfurt, Germany and the Low Budget exhibition at the Cultural Centre de Balem in Lissabon (Lisbon).
Although there are many names in the industry of design and every designer has her/his own place in it, Theselius takes the cake for making design affordable and accessible to people of all classes. He does not believe that good furniture belongs to the elite. Theselius is a sensation because he truly believes that art is for everyone.