Ludo Lassalle (b. Calais, 1977) lives and works in Alès. An urban painter, he began graffiti

in 1988 under the pseudonym Smaé.

Since then, he has developed a studio practice, while continuing to intervene in urban space.

Ludo Lassalle was born in 1977 in Calais, a former industrial and port city in northern France, separated from the cliffs of Dover by the English Channel.

From an early age, pencils and paintbrushes had him itching.

At the age of 8, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Calais for extracurricular classes and academic training, which he completed a few years later. At the same time, he discovered the first tags and graffiti that adorned the town's walls, and which were to leave an indelible mark on his painting. Fascinated, he developed a passion for this underground urban art form, and in turn put down his own signature in the course of his escapades. A skateboarder, Ludo roams the nooks and crannies of the city, bombs on his back, in search of new spots. The railroads, which he has always watched from his bedroom window, become his new playground. He explored the urban artistic life of the Hauts de France region, as well as that of Belgium and England, drawing inspiration from it, experimenting with it, transposing it onto canvas and, at the same time, continuing his courses at the Beaux-Arts to perfect his technique. His exploration led him to leave his mark on the asphalt and walls of Paris, Marseille, London, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Later, he moved to Lille, then finally left the north to join the Cévennes, his homeland.

His studio, overlooking railway tracks, expanded, and Ludo continued to paint with greater zeal, playing with formats and supports, particularly those from salvaged

materials that he enjoyed hijacking, making his own supports while multiplying techniques.

The artist paints the banal and works around the real.

He paints facades, rooftops, streets, industrial wastelands and railway landscapes.

Ludo details urban space from every angle, with a host of stains, drips and bursts of paint.