In Pictures: Graffiti artist “Sleek” delivers standout street art at London’s Beano Studios

By John Freeman on September 18, 2019

Beano Studios have just unveiled a unique and bespoke piece of street art in the window of their London Fleet Street offices created by one of their licensees; the mysterious and anonymous graffiti artist known as Sleek.

The Scottish based artist, whose identity is a closely guarded secret, produces his original artworks, limited editions and merchandise under license from Beano Studios.

Whilst being classically trained, Sleek’s style comes about by combining street art with pop art to create a new fresh style which now hangs on the walls of celebrity homes and prestigious galleries across the UK.

Sleek created the newly commissioned artwork live in the window of the Beano HQ to the excitement of the passing public. Taking many hours to complete, the artwork was created with multi layers of graffiti and tags, using a mix of spray paints and hand cut stencils.

Angeles Blanco, Director of Global Licensing at Beano Studios also said, “We’re delighted to unveil this unique piece, custom made for us here at Beano Studios and we look forward to seeing what Sleek will create for us in the future.”

Sleek, who is exclusively represented by fine art publishing house Covell Publishing, said, “It was amazing to be invited to London by Beano Studios to create this art installation and it’s a real honour to have my work displayed in the Beano London HQ window for two weeks. Beano and DC Thomson have always been a big inspiration to me so I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to give them something back.”

“Characters like Dennis and Gnasher are so iconic they instantly remind the audience of their childhood and lets them escape to a new world as well as reminding adults that you’re never too old to have fun!”

• The Beano Issue 4003 is on sale today in all good newsagents and supermarkets and is online at beano.com

• Check out Sleek’s “Nothing But Trouble” prints at www.sleekart.co.uk | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.