We had playful conversation on how play engages in highbrow and lowbrow arts through the disarming vehicle of the toy with Tom Down and Elisa Gozzi.

Tom Down is a London-based painter, whose practice explores the idealised romantic landscape. Responding to the works of historic painters, he re-imagines these as a series of lo-fi maquettes built in the studio. His work is currently held in private collections in the UK and USA.

Elisa Gozzi is an art historian with a great passion for Pop Surrealism, designer toys, and pop-up books. Her research has included an exploration of toys in Art History. Elisa has collaborated with MUSLI in Turin, Italy (Museum of School and Children’s Books) for the organization of POP APP International Conference of Movable Books.

They lead us into a discussion on how tactile play informs studio practice, but also how toys use a disarming combination of gameplay and nostalgia in rendering cultural concepts to both children and adults.

Tom Down
Toyartventures (Elisa Gozzi)