Jo (Josephine) Brocklehurst (1935 - 2006) studied at Central Saint Martins and began her career as a fashion illustrator. She later focused on portraiture, drawing directly from models at her studio in West Hampstead and in nightclubs and theatres in Berlin, London and New York. Her work documents the alternative subcultures of the 1970s, 80s and 90s that went on to shape mainstream fashion and performance scenes.

In 1999, Brocklehurst was artist in residence at newspaper Berliner Zeitung during Berliner Theatertreffen, a festival of new German theatre. The paper wanted to revive the Weimar tradition of theatre reviews being accompanied by illustrations, rather than using photographs. Brocklehurst drew behind the scenes and from her seat during performances.