During the recent renovations of the former Odeon cinema on Burgess Street, Sheffield, builders made a wonderful discovery. Hidden under layers of chipboard and plasterboard was a mural painted by Joe, long forgotten and thought to be gone forever.
Anyone who has visited Joe's exhibition "Then and Now", which opened this week at the Work Station, may have already seen a print of this piece on display.
In 1986, the developers commissioned Joe to paint a mural on the wall of the main staircase. Joe gladly accepted and set to work painting the 25 foot wide wall within the 1 year deadline for the princely sum of £11,000.
Given the size of the wall and the fact that Joe would be painting with his regular O or OO paintbrushes as if painting a 20x30 inch canvas it occurred to Joe that he might take a little longer than first thought. Being a man of innovation and a full phone book, he gave his friend Bill Kirby a call to enlist his commendable services to help complete the work. A portion of the left-hand side of the mural was painted by Bill closely mimicking Joe’s style so the two artists work blended seamlessly.
Between them, Joe and Bill picked out some wonderful Sheffield sites and sights including Tinsley Wire Industries Ltd, a football match between The Blades and The Owls, The Greyhound Pub at Ecclesfield, the Sheffield Marathon taking place on the right-hand side and of course, the Odeon itself sitting proudly in the middle.
Joe looks back on the work fondly, recounting:
“I remember climbing the scaffolding on the first day and thinking to myself
“By ‘eck, Joe, you know how to pick ‘em”. I set about transferring the sketches from my pocket-sized notebook to this huge wall - a task in itself! The best part about the job was watching the cinema take shape around me. I do love a good film and being involved in the creation of the latest cinema was a great honour. I didn’t, however, enjoy the workmen hoisting the giant safes up the middle of my scaffolding to the top floor whilst I was painting, one slip and that could have been all she wrote!”
Given the size of the wall and the fact that Joe would be painting with his regular O or OO paintbrushes as if painting a 20x30 inch canvas it occurred to Joe that he might take a little longer than first thought. Being a man of innovation and a full phone book, he gave his friend Bill Kirby a call to enlist his commendable services to help complete the work. A portion of the left-hand side of the mural was painted by Bill closely mimicking Joe’s style so the two artists work blended seamlessly.
Between them, Joe and Bill picked out some wonderful Sheffield sites including Tinsley Wire Industries Ltd, both Sheffield United and Wednesday, The Greyhound Pub at Ecclesfield, the Sheffield Marathon taking place on the right-hand side and of course, the Odeon itself sitting proudly in the middle.
Now a little worse for wear and in need of some sympathetic restoration, the mural has been re-covered by Sheffield Council who hope to begin restoring the mural with the help of Sheffield Hallam University in the near future.
If you haven't seen the painting yet, head on down to the Work Station on Paternoster Row, Sheffield to view this and over 35 original Joe Scarborough paintings on display.