Slaithwaite's Jenny Parkin provides an artistic surprise in Huddersfield's Sleepers Bar's loos

May 5 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

An artistic surprise in Huddersfield bar loos

DRINKERS at one Huddersfield bar may not find quite what they are expecting when they go to spend a penny.

Artist Jenny Parkin has transformed the toilets at Sleepers Bar in Viaduct Street with huge images of figurines, half-submerged in jelly and custard.

Jenny, 35, of Slaithwaite, papered the cubicles with her photographs to create the works, called Best Selves.

Bar co-owner Russell Kirby said: "Customers think they’re great.

“They have a real impact. Lots of people have said: ‘Wow!’ They’re now going into the loos especially to have a look.”

Jenny said: "I believe in bringing art to the people, taking it out of the galleries and into every day life – and there’s nothing more every day than a toilet cubicle!

"The figurines I photographed are only about 7cm tall, but the images of them are bigger than real people.

"Some people have told me they were a bit hesitant to enter the cubicles because it felt like stepping into a ghost train.

“Others just love the bright colours and think it’s all really pretty."

The work will stay up for as long as it lasts.