A COLOURFUL installation perking up a classic Liverpool building is not all it first appears.

Transmission, by city artist Barbara Jones, currently covers more than 50m of window space of the Liverpool Medical Institution at the top of Mount Pleasant, opposite the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Located on the site of the birthplace of William Roscoe, the library was founded in 1779 and has hosted pioneering and groundbreaking medical lectures.

“The detailed images are so beautiful that you double-take. People might think it’s pretty, then are shocked when they find out what it is,” said Ms Jones.

“I always try and make work that is quite particular to the space, and I think Transmission is very appropriate for the medical institution.

“It has been such a groundbreaking place for the cure of diseases and I’ve found it very inspiring.”

Transmission concentrates on the microscopic images of five different diseases – TB, cholera, malaria, smallpox and bird flu – enlarged and bursting with colour to look deceptively attractive. The work is part of the programme of the Independents Biennial. “People can only see it from the outside and that is where the challenge was, but the nice thing is it is on view 24 hours a day, it looks different during the night and day, and I don’t have to worry about opening times.

“The Biennial is a good opportunity for Liverpool artists to get involved, and gives the impetus to go out there and show their work.”