Biography

Born in 1982, Jérôme Almes, better known as SMOLE, is a painter from Montpellier. A troublemaker of the graffiti scene, a major figure in his city and beyond its borders, he threw himself body and soul into the world of graffiti when he was only 15 years old and has therefore now more than 20 years of active practice to his credit.

And if he started his first graffiti on the walls of his college, the street quickly imposed itself as a real playground for him and more particularly the trains which became his favorite medium. Under the impulsion of a first generation of Montpellier taggers, Smole started tagging in 1996 within the TGV crew before asserting himself more with the C4 crew: an emblematic and essential crew in the south of France at the end of the 90s.

But in 2000 he founded the TF1 crew and continued his painting on trains and metros. It is then a wave that falls on Europe: from Rome to Barcelona, via Brussels and Bucharest, his name very quickly circulates both on the walls, the wagons and on the lips of intrigued insiders. Having become obsessive, almost compulsive, graffiti then takes on the appearance of a wandering addiction, offering him many friendships as well as the inexorable sirens of the law. This will nevertheless allow him to accelerate his recognition in the graffiti scene and to begin a meteoric rise on the urban art scene.

Today, Smole is recognized on the urban art market and has built up a collection of ever more astonishing personal styles. His authentic graffiti background, his multiple encounters and inter-rail travels have allowed his painting to evolve like no other.