The Natural History Museum celebrates the union of science and art

Fabulous Beasts at The Natural History Museum celebrates the union of science and art, a truly unexpected alliance. Manipulating the boundaries of magnification, artists Mark Fairnington and Giles Revell use electron microscopic imagery to reproduce the minute detail of the remarkable life forms of whirligig beetles and stick insects, to name but a few of the creepy-crawlies on display. In his painting Specimen (right) Fairnington embodies the detail and precision found in the graphic works of the renaissance master Dürer. The intricacy of the paintings is mirrored in Revell’s photographs, such as Shedskin (left). Fabulous Beasts was designed in-house by Simon Caslaw and runs until 12 September 2004.