Joseph ‘Joe’ Sleep. Painter. St. John, New Brunswick. Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Joe Sleep was a lobster fisherman before working with the ‘Bill Lynch’ travelling carnival show. He began to paint while he was in the hospital in the early 1970’s, recovering from a heat attack. He worked with various ‘as found’ media, on paper and on board. His experience working with carnivals shows in his paintings; they all seem to call the viewer to “look at me”. His pallet and the images that he painted reflect this as well.
Joseph Sleep was widely recognized and had a retrospective in Halifax during his lifetime.
One of his paintings. ‘Kangaroos and flowers’. Signed and dated 1977. ‘As found’ colors on a panel:
Joe Sleep. Painter. Halifax, Nova Scotia. Kangaroo and Flowers. 1977.
Ref: Bruce Ferguson. Joe Sleep Retrospective. Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Halifax. 1981.
