Cercophitecus Icarocornu (Fauna)
Spanish artist Joan Fontcuberta’s 1987 series ‘Fauna’ is a bizarre look at animals that do not exist in real life.
The self-described “teller of mistruths” blurs the line between reality and fantasy with strange animal hybrids like unicorn monkeys, legged snakes and mysterious deer-like creatures.
A collaboration with writer and photographer Pere Formiguera, Fontcuberta derived inspiration from the archives of a fictional zoologist named Dr. Peter Ameisenhaufen, using artefacts and notes to carefully piece together photographic evidence of the existence of these made-up creatures.
His concept and execution is so convincing that despite the absurdity of the series, you can’t help but feel they must be real.
The photographs are part of his first UK exhibition ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ that brings together ‘Fauna’ and other works in his oeuvre.
The exhibition opened at the Science Museum in London on Wednesday, and runs til 9 November.
View some of Fontcuberta’s images below and if you’re in London, do check out his exhibition.
Solenoglypha Polipodida (Fauna)
The Great Warden of All Good (Fauna)
Cercophitecus Icarocornu 2 (Fauna)
Alopex Stultus (Fauna)
Centaurus Neandertalensis (Fauna)
[via The Guardian and The Telegraph, images by Joan Fontcuberta]