Set outside The Furness Railway pub on Abbey Road, it has been re-envisioned as part of an exhibition at the town’s Art Gene gallery.
Regulars looked on as three men in period dress sat down at a table outside the pub and started mixing a drink.
The scene paid tribute to the 1924 oil painting Hot Punch by Liverpool artist Frank Moss Bennett, which depicts three gentlemen in a wood-panelled room preparing a traditional punch.
Alistair Debling, artist-in-residence at Art Gene, art-directed and photographed the updated version using Guinness instead of brandy or rum.
Mr Debling said: “Portraiture, for many centuries, was a way for elite white men to convey a ‘natural order of things’ in which a wealthy minority had the right to profit from the land and its resources.
“Hot Punch is an important painting as it shows how privilege and status are artificially constructed through costume and gesture: it looks like a 19th century high society scene but was actually painted in 1924 using clothing, furniture and props from the previous century.
“A hundred years on, I thought it would be poignant to restage the scene, this time outside a Wetherspoons, with a group of creative and courageous people whose home countries have been destabilised as a legacy of the colonialism that enriched wealthy European elites.”
He chose the pub for its exterior, formerly Barrow’s Cooperative Society department store built in 1889, which reminded him of the grand setting in the original artwork.
The image is one of six contemporary re-creations of classical artworks, staged around Barrow and spanning art from the 15th to the early 20th century.
These photographs form part of the Remember Nature: Intra-action exhibition at Art Gene, which opens to the public on Wednesday, November 5.
Other locations featured in the re-creations include bus stops on Abbey Road and Coronation Gardens.
In Mr Debling’s version of Hot Punch, the three men pictured are Ahmed Elking, Saidi Khamis and Yohanis Haile—all refugees or asylum seekers who participated in workshops through Furness Refugee Support.
The group, aged from their 20s to 50s, also includes individuals from Eritrea, Pakistan, Syria, DRC, Tanzania, and Sudan.
Their project began with a visit to Abbot Hall in Kendal for a self-portraiture workshop led by artist Lela Harris.
They also learned to hand-colour black and white photographs and develop film using a homemade solution made from weeds, washing soda, and vitamin C.
During pottery sessions, the group created cabbage leaf plates and bowls inspired by Portuguese ceramicist Bordallo Pinheiro, and embroidered a tablecloth with motifs representing themes of Barrow, travel and ‘unity’.
The ceramics and tablecloth will be used during a communal feast on Tuesday, November 4, marking the 10th anniversary of the artist-led environmental day Remember Nature.
The exhibition also features work by Art Gene founder Maddi Nicholson and artist Faye Matloub.
A public launch event will take place on Tuesday, November 4 from 6.30pm to 9pm, including a light buffet and refreshments.
The exhibition runs until Friday, November 21 and is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 12pm to 4pm at Art Gene, Bath Street, Barrow, LA14 5TY.
