By Kyle Niart

There is so much innovative style writing currently coming out of France and Lime is another fine example. Hailing from Lyon, he is a highly creative individual, painting amazing pieces under the names of Lime and Gris. He also flexes his muscles on canvas and gets involved professionally in graphic design. His pieces, which have appeared on all manner of surfaces over the years, are often strong and heavy, looking like they have been meticulously carved out of a solid block. With a penchant and love for painting on as large a scale as possible, Lime’s work stands out in size, power and style.

What first sparked your interested in graffiti?

I started to paint in 1996. I was about 14 years old and a friend of mine had already been tagging a bit. He took me out to do some stuff one night and I instantly adored it. On the next day I went back to see what we had painted and that is when I really got into it. I felt that it was for me. I tagged the whole year and by the end of it I started making some pieces. My first piece was on the highway with some unexpected colours, a turquoise fill-in and a cherry red outline, it was terrible, but I was really proud of myself. That’s why I went ahead and got on with it.

Where are you from and what is it like to be a writer there?

I have been living in Lyon for two years, but before that I used to live in Marseilles, which is a place where the weather is good the whole year round. Everybody more or less knows each other and even if we don’t all get along with each other all the time there are never any big beefs. Everybody paints on his own side of town. I’ve painted without a T-shirt on in January, so it’s good to be a writer in the South of France, people are chilled and there is a good general atmosphere. In Lyon, I don’t know so many writers, so I paint on my own and with the few friends that I have got here, mates like Gomer or Ogre.

How did you come up with your names and what do they mean to you?

After ten years painting I got tired of the letters in a name. When you think that you have done just about everything you can with your letters then you want to change them, so I chose ‘Gris,’ because I like the letters first and foremost before everything else, and I also like the contrast between the word for ‘grey’ [in French] and all the colours you can use to paint it.

The FULL interview with LIME appears in issue 54 of Graphoism magazine - click here to purchase your copy www.graphotism.com/Subscribe-Graphotism-or-MyNameIs-Magazine.74.0.html