Mats gustafson illustrator biography definition pdf

Fashion illustrations, landscapes, erotic portraits, plants, floating swans; the broad sweep of his brush transfers the most exquisite garments, senses and emotions, memory and fragility to paper, suggesting an almost poetic arbitrariness. A solemn simplicity even! Mats Gustafson boldly uses watercolour to express his personal thoughts, desires or virtues, but most of the time to reflect the work of others through his talent in illustrating fashion.

Mats Gustafson is a Swedish illustrator born in who began his career in the late s.

Ever since his multi-chaptered creative journey started around 45 years ago, his majestic work has been featured in the glossiest of the glossies while being exhibited in museums since , as well as in galleries and renowned publications. I call him at his wonderful apartment in Sweden where he only arrived the day before, straight from New York.

FM: I would like to start from the very beginning when you left Sweden to pursue your dream to be an illustrator—a pretty daring thing to do. Would you consider those first steps and decisions as a kind of rebellion today? The only thing I can say about that time, if we are talking about the late s and early 80s, is that moving from Sweden to New York was a much bigger step than it is today.

I mean the distance somehow seemed longer then. Today people work much more internationally. It was not rebellious of me but it was, maybe, a bit unusual. FM: But since we are focusing on the 80s, that period was more about photography than illustration. This is how I mean rebellious in the timing you made your move to New York: the art of illustration was almost fading by then.

MG: Yes, you are right. When I first started fashion illustration it was already out-dated, in a way, and was considered a thing of the past.