A Portrait of Barnsley Civic
(A perfect masterpiece & A troubled transformation)
Liadin Cooke 2026

A Portrait of Barnsley Civic (A perfect masterpiece & A troubled transformation) is a double portrait of the Barnsley Mechanics Institute and Public Hall, now the Barnsley Civic. On the left is a representation of its original state in 1877, and right when it was remodelled in 2009.

Using wax and working from archival measurements but without a map, the rooms and spaces of the building in 1877 are outlined in the strong colours used in Victorian interiors. Beside it, working from plans but with no measurements and mimicking the pale tones so prevalent in today’s interiors, are blank spaces for the positioning of ideas and creativity - overlaid with the original 1877 footprint of the men and women’s separate art rooms.

Both works are not so much about mapping as feeling the building, understanding its history and purpose.