Strange Creatures: The art of unknown animals

When new regions are explored and the species in them discovered, how does the wider world get to experience them? From the earliest days of exploration, art has been essential in representing creatures that are alien to people at home.

Strange Creatures explores the world of animal representations, centred on the painting of a kangaroo by George Stubbs which was recently saved for the nation. It was painted following Captain Cook’s first “Voyage of Discovery” and is Europe’s first image of an Australian animal.

Palaeontologists and historians of science, exploration and art from across UCL will tell stories from their own disciplines. Featuring medieval accounts of exotic creatures, art from the ages of exploration and empire, contemporary taxidermy and reconstructions of dinosaurs based on cutting-edge engineering principles, this exhibition questions how unknown animals are communicated to the wider public.