When Alex Corina took a printmaking course at Bradford College 20 years ago he never imagined that one day his artwork would become an international landmark.

The former Bradford councillor has created a major tourist attraction which has become the symbol of Liverpool's winning European Capital of Culture 2008 bid and the largest print in Europe.

Alex used images of Liverpool musical icon John Lennon and Leonardo De Vinci's Mona Lisa to create the striking design, called Imajohn.

Known in Liverpool as "Mona Lennon", two 80ft high versions of it stand on the sides of Liverpool's St George's Hall and are a focus for tourists flocking to the city since it was named European Capital of Culture 2008.

Alex left Bradford for Liverpool 20 years ago and works as an artist.

He was commissioned by the North West Development Agency which funded Liverpool's 2008 bid to create Imajohn. He made it over two months from a combination of processes involving painting and cut-and-paste images, using a crackled paint effect to make it look old.

"I wanted to sum up Liverpool's past, present and future," he said. "With the Mona Lisa I had the challenge of re-inventing something that artists have re-interpreted many times.

"And I wanted to use the Beatles, as Liverpool cultural icons. Lennon's chin is the same shape as the Mona Lisa's and I thought a combination of the two would work really well.

"The river is Liverpool's past and future. And I used Liverpool images of The Cloud - a state-of-the-art building designed for 2008 - the yellow 'Lam-banana,' commissioned by a Japanese artist, and tall ships on the Mersey.

"And Lennon is holding a guitar which keen fans will recognise as one he used only once, to record the Sergeant Pepper album."

The print was unveiled at a House of Commons reception for well known Merseyside figures where it was admired by people like MP Glenda Jackson and actress Rita Tushingham.

"It was in a gilt frame, like the original Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris," said Alex. "Then two prints went up on either side of St George's Hall - which is five times bigger than Bradford's St George's Hall - in time for the judges' visit. I was overwhelmed when I saw them. The image is the symbol of Liverpool - you can't miss it - and the reaction has been great."

Alex was with Liverpool's bid team when Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell announced it had won the 2008 title.

"I've never seen such euphoria," he said. "Throughout the bid Liverpool had been confident but recently people were preparing for bad news, because Newcastle seemed to be favourite.

"Liverpool needed to win, to turn things around and change its image - probably the same reasons Bradford could have done with winning.

"I love Bradford and return every week. It was great that the people behind Bradford's bid had so much ambition.