by Luisa De la Concha Montes

This is not a conventional play. Part artist manifesto, part PowerPoint presentation, this incredibly creative show explores the life and work of artist Chris Dobrowlski. The setting for this show couldn’t be more perfect. Nestled between model train tracks and vintage toys, Chris’ performance takes place inside Brighton’s Toy Museum (which, funnily enough, is also below Brighton’s train station).

As we enter the venue, we are asked to look at a video playing on an old television set, which is also Chris’ work. On the screen, there is a model car going around in circles on top of a stack of papers with the lockdown government guidelines. We see a model toy version of Boris Johnson and Telegraph and Guardian newspaper sellers wearing masks, while “I’m Bored” by Iggy Pop plays in the background. This sets the mood for the show, making clear that humour is embedded into Chris’ visual language.

The show opens with Chris launching himself fully into amusing self-deprecation. We immediately learn that he is the textbook definition of a failed artist, as he is still living with his mother, and his studio is actually her shed. He takes us on a life-tour, outlining what it was like to live in post-war Essex with a Polish dad and a British mum.

Chris intercalates videos of his art installations with family photographs, and personal anecdotes. Failure becomes a running concept in the show. He talks about how, in his final year, he attempted to build a boat to escape art college. The boat sank, but it resulted in Chris being invited to other universities around the country to talk about how not to make a living as an artist. Ironically, he remarks how his initial attempt at escaping art college ended up in him coming back for many years as a lecturer.

Politics is also a prominent topic in the show. He talks about fascism, explaining how his dad escaped Poland during the Second World War. He also includes his very blunt opinions about the current political environment. He shows us the art pieces he has made about Priti Patel’s anti-immigration policies, and Boris Johnson’s response to the pandemic, making a poignant point about the connection between fascism then and now.

The whole performance is a journey, literally and metaphorically. We get to know Chris’ fixation with Scalextric car sets, model planes and construction toys. But rather than being a strange obsession, we understand there is more to it. Vehicle making becomes Chris’ metaphor for growth, an ode to childhood, and a way of looking inwards by looking back.

This show is far removed from the stuffiness of the art world. The language it uses moves beyond inaccessible ‘art-speak’, and instead invites us to see contemporary art as a hilarious, absurd and moving event. More gallery opening press releases should be written in the style of Chris Dobrowlski.

Toy Stories ran through 21 May.

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