From the text by contributing writer, Matteo Contin:

"I think of fontanesi as a sixteenth-century illustrator who, when faced with the task of representing a whale, realises not only must he depict something which he has never seen but something which bears no relation to that which swims, runs of flies the earth. And so, before the mysterious and the unknown, he must invent his own cetology using the tales and descriptions of the sailors.

fontanesi is the creation of a modern provincial folklore comprised of two-headed geriatrics, glasses of Aperol with feet sticking out, human bodies that sprout from human bodies, cars that – a cross between Munari and Goldberg – become both impossible and useless. fontanesi repopulates our every day with yokai, goblins and protective spirits which, impressed in our mind, don’t delay in appearing before us as soon as we find ourselves staring at the crowd while waiting for a tram, having breakfast outside or in line to pay for parking."

13 x 13 x 2.3 cm | 420 pages | softcover