©Phillip Toledano, Man with a Head Made of Hydrangas, from the book Another England published by L/Aterie

I have spent numerous afternoons watching the videos of Phillip Toledano’s hilarious series, Make Phil Great Again, inspired by Trump’s ability to inflate his self worth. Or marveling at his ability to to examine politics with humor, gravitas, and creativity with his mixed media projects Kim Jong Phil, America The Gift Shop, and Absent Portrait. I have shared his poignant series about aging parents, Days with My Father, in classes over the years, so when Toledano made his foray into AI, it made perfect sense. Toledano has a long legacy of creating work that is unsettling, irreverent, political, and ground breaking, all with a sense of irony and humor. I knew that he was looking at this tidal wave of visual change in an a unique way, making us consider the ramifications of what is true. He wasn’t simply using the tools of Midjourney to create quirky combinations of photographs, he was creating eye-catching, surrealist work that mirrors the surrealistic untruths in today’s politics. L’Arterie has just released a new monograph of this work titled Another England.

He states: The very existence of AI has made everything true, and nothing true, simultanously. Not only have facts and history become infinitely elastic, but they are now also personal choices, informed by whatever internet silo, or reddit group we happen to inhabit. ‘Another england’ follows ‘Another America’ and is the second installment in my historical surrealism series. It’s both based in truth, of what might have happened, what could happen, and based in fantasy. In some ways, it mirrors our new relationship with media and the image. We live in a time of active invented history-it’s being rewritten in front of our very eyes. 

Toledano had a variety of well-known luminaries, who have returned from the grave, to celebrate his new book. Take a look.

©Phillip Toledano, Book Cover fr0m Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, Spread from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, Spread from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, Spread from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, Spread from Another England published by L/Aterie

Phillip Toledano was born in 1968 in London, to a French Moroccan mother and an American father. He grew up in London and Casablanca.

He received a BA in English literature from Tufts University in Boston.

Toledano considers himself a conceptual artist: Everything starts with an idea, and the idea determines the execution. Consequently, his work varies in medium, ranging from photography to installation, sculpture, painting and video.

Instagram: @Mr.Toledano

©Phillip Toledano, Water River Ripples, from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, Spotted Deer Coat, from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, Remove, from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, More Dogs, from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, Inflatable Horse, from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, Frozen Trees, from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, Water Park with Twistly Blue Slides, from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, A Man with the Head of a Fox, from Another England published by L/Aterie

©Phillip Toledano, A Giant Red Complicated Roller Coaster, from Another England published by L/Aterie

Design: Teresa Piardi – Maxwell Studio

Size of the book:27,5 x 24 cm

pages: 64

Published in English

First Edition 750 copies

ISBN: 979-12-80978-26-4

Cover price: 60 Euro (VAT included)

About L’Artiere Edizioni

L’Artiere Edizioni is a young publishing house specialised in photography books characterised by the high quality of its products. The publishing house was founded in 2013 from an idea by Gianluca and Gianmarco Gamberini.

Specialised in the presentation of photographic collections, L’Artiere Edizioni strongly believes in the concept of quality and attention to every detail of the finished product, devoting itself to the creation of volumes that are aesthetically pleasing and made to last, not only aimed at expert photographers or collectors, but also at fans or people who simply want to catch up with the world of contemporary photography.

Passion, dedication, technical knowledge and craftsmanship are the cornerstones of our business.

Grafiche dell’Artiere is behind the experience of L’Artiere Edizioni, having transferred a very high level of technical know-how and extensive experience in the field of printing to the young publishing house.

Instagram: @lartiere