Joe Scarborough (artist)

Joe Scarborough is an artist born in Sheffield, England in 1938. He is most famous for painting humorous scenes of Sheffield life - everyday "real" images of the life and people of South Yorkshire.^[1]

His career began as a laboratory assistant at the Batchelors processed food company.^[2] He became a face worker at the Thorpe Hesley colliery, and was inspired to paint by the contrast of the darkness of the mines and the lightness of the real world above the ground.^[1] In 1968 disenchantment with the pits led to numerous jobs - labourer, municipal park gardener and a washer upper for some years, nurturing a dream to be a full-time painter. For years he pushed a handcart, packed with paintings round all his local pubs selling what he could in almost folkloric-like tradition, becoming at times like the characters he went on to portray in later scenes.

His paintings were popular and sold, sometimes for as much as £10 - an encouragement that led to his lifelong dream being realised. His first one-man show lasted for two years at the Attic Cafe near Sheffield's main bus station. One-man and mixed exhibitions followed which took the everyday scenes of Yorkshire life from Sheffield to Rotherham to London to San Francisco to Chicago and back to Sheffield.^[1]

Scarborough's paintings now appear in several major collections and numerous works have been imprinted. The images, the humour, the friendships, the story telling is still the same.^[1]

His largest work dominates the entrance to the Odeon Cinema in Sheffield - a mural depicting the history of Sheffield.^[1]

Sixteen of his paintings are in Sheffield public art collections, for example Sheffield Museums and Sheffield Hallam University.^[3]

References